Ex  IGibrtH 


SEYMOUR  DURST 


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MEMOIR 

E  WITT  CLINTON 

?J^^~* — 'x  WITH  AN  j~ 

APPENDIX, 


CONTAINING 


NUMEROUS  DOCUMENTS, 


ILLUSTRATIVE  OF 


THE  PRINCIPAL  EVENTS  OF  HIS  LIFE. 


BY  DAVID  HOSACK,  M.D.  F.R.S. 


In  te  unum  atque  in  tuum  nomen  se  tota  convertet,  civitas  ; 
te  Senatus,  te  omnes  boni,  te  socii,  te  Latini  intuebuntur. 

Cic.  be  Rei'vb.  vi.  ]3. 


NEW- YORK: 

TRINTED  BY  J.  SEYMOUR,  49  JOHN-STREET. 
1829. 


Southern  District  of  New-York,  ss.  T> 

DE  IT  REMEMBERED,  That  on  the  fifteenth  day 
of  April,  A.  D.  1829,  in  the  53cl  year  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
David  Hosack,  of  the  said  district,  hath  deposited  in  this  office  the  title  of  a  book,  the  right 
whereof  he  claims  as  author,  in  the  words  following,  to  wit : 

"  Memoir  of  De  Witt  Clinton  :  with  an  Appendix,  containing  Numerous  Documents,  illustra- 
tive of  the  Principal  Events  of  his  Life  — By  David  Hosack,  M.D.  F.R  S.— In  te  unum  atque  in 
tuuni  nomen  se  tota  convertet,  civitas  ;  te  senatus,  te  omncs  boni,  te  socii,  te  Latini  intuehuntur. 
Cic.  de  Repub.  vi.  13." 

In  conformity  to  the  act  of  Congress  of  the  United  States,  enl 
ment  of  learning,  by  securing  the  copies  of  maps,  charts,  and  boc 

of  such  copies,  during  the  tune  therein  mentioned."  And  also  to  an  act,  entitled  "  an  act,  sup- 
plementary to  art,  entitled  an  act  for  the  encouragement  of  learning,  by  securing  the  copies  of 
maps,  charts,  and  books,  to  the  authors  and  proprietors  of  such  copies,  during  the  times  therein 
mentioned,  ami  extending  the  benefits  thereof  to  the  arts  of  designing,  engraving,  and  etching  his- 
torical and  other  prints.''  FRED.  J.  BETTS, 

Clerk  of  the  Southern  District  of  New-York. 


PREFACE. 


338 


When  the  author  commenced  the  following  work,  it  occurred  to 
him,  that  independently  of  the  general  character  of  the  illustrious 
subject  of  this  Memoir,  it  became  his  duty  to  ascertain  the  nature 
and  extent  of  the  services  Mr.  Clinton  had  rendered  to  the  various 
Literary  and  Benevolent  Institutions*of  the  city  and  state  of  New- 
York  ;  and,  more  especially,  to  inquire  into  the  history  of  the  origin1, 
progress,  and  completion,  of  the  Canals  of  this  state,  with  which  his 
fame  had  become  identified. 

Until  the  family  of  the  deceased  had  selected  the  Hon.  John  C. 
Spencer  as  the  biographer  of  Mr.  Clinton,  the  author  acknowledges 
he  had  reason  to  believe  he  would  have  had  the  benefit  of  access  to 
the  private  papers  of  his  friend,  and  from  which  he  had  expected  to 
receive  much  assistance.    But  while  he  rejoices  in  the  judicious 


vi  .   *  PREFACE. 

selection  that  has  been  made  of  a  gentleman,  who  unites,  with  great 
abilities  and  acquirements,  every  qualification  for  the  duty  he  has  been 
requested  to  perform,  the  disappointment  this  circumstance  has 
thereby  occasioned  to  the  author,  will  readily  be  imagined,  and,  he 
trusts,  will  be  received  as  a  satisfactory  apology  for  any  omissions,  or 
errors,  which  may -be  found  in  this  work. 

Indeed,  had  he  supposed  the  privation  possible,  which  he  has  ex- 
perienced, great  as  has  been  his  attachment  to  Mr.  Clinton,  his  respect 
for  his  memory,  or  the  sense  of  duty,  which  a  long  and  uninterrupted 
friendship  had  imposed  upon  him,  to  perpetuate,  to  the  best  of  his 
abilities,  the  remembrance  of  those  virtues  and  deeds  which  had 
adorned  the  life  of  that  distinguished  statesman,  the  author,  certainly, 
would  have  been  at  once  deterred  from  attempting  the  performance 
of  the  task  he  has  endeavoured  to  execute. 

Being  thus  deprived  of  that  source  of  information  upon  which  he 
had  relied,  he  immediately  commenced  a  correspondence  with  many 
of  the  personal  friends  of  Governor  Clinton,  and  especially  with  those 
who  had  been  associated  with  him  in  the  great  and  memorable 
events  of  his  valuable  life.  From  them,  in  addition  to  his  own 
personal  knowledge  of  Mr.  Clinton,  he  has  derived  numerous  and 
highly  interesting  facts ;  and  it  affords  him  great  pleasure  to  ac- 
knowledge his  obligations  for  the  information  he  has  thus  received. 
To  the  Hon.  John  C.  Spencer,  Chancellor  Kent,  Cadwallader  D.  Col- 
den,  Dr.  John  W.  Francis,  Nathaniel  H.  Carter,  and  others,  whose 


PREFACE.  '  vii 

communications  are  more  particularly  detailed  in  the  Appendix,  he 
owes  a  debt  of  gratitude  for  many  important  facts  which  they 
promptly  supplied. 

Upon  the  subject  of  the  canals  of  this  state,  which,  since  the  year 
1810,  had  been  a  prominent  object  of  Mr.  Clinton's  solicitude,  it  was 
not  the  intention  of  the  author  to  give  a  full  historical  account  of  the 
events  connected  with  that  great  achievement.  This  had  already 
been  ably  done  by  the  late  Charles  G.  Haines ;  by  John  Van  Ness 
Yates,  the  late  Secretary  of  State;  by  Cadwallader  D.  Colden;  and, 
to  these  may  be  added,  the  excellent  Summary  of  the  Canal  Navigation 
of  the  United  States,  published  by  Professor  Renwick  of  Columbia 
College.*  The  original  object  of  the  author  was  to  ascertain  the 
nature  and  extent  of  the  services  rendered  by  the  subject  of  this 
memoir.  It  thence,  also,  became  necessary  to  inquire,  how  far  other 
persons  had  contributed,  by  their  labours,  to  the  accomplishment  of 
the  same  great  end.  These  inquiries  have,  necessarily,  led  to  a  much 
more  extensive  investigation  of  this  subject  than  was,  at  first,  con- 
templated. In  the  course  of  this  examination,  to  the  great  surprise 
of  the  author,  numerous  facts  have  been  disclosed,  and  many  valuable 
documents  obtained,  which  have  never  hitherto  been  communicated 
to  the  world,  and  which  will  be  found  to  illustrate,  not  only  the  highly 


*  See  Quarterly  Journal  of  Science,  Literature,  and  Art,  Royal  Institution  of  Great 
Britain. 


viii  PREFACE. 

important  services  rendered  by  Mr.  Clinton,  but  those  also  by  others 
who  have  not  been  before  known  and  appreciated  among  the  bene- 
factors of  the  state,  and  to  whom  much  praise  is  due  for  the  benefits 
which  their  talents  and  disinterested  labours  have  conferred. 

The  number  and  extent  of  those  documents  have  unavoidably 
enlarged  the  Appendix  to  a  very  unexpected  length,  and  have  neces- 
sarily delayed  the  publication  of  the  work.  These  circumstances, 
and  the  time  occupied  in  procuring  some  of  the  materials,  will 
account  for  the  disproportion  which  will  be  found  to  exist  between 
the  original  biography  and  the  appended  matter.  Could  these  diffi- 
culties have  been  earlier  foreseen,  measures  might  have  been  adopted 
the  better  to  have  secured  a  more  ample  Memoir,  and  to  have  com- 
pressed the  Appendix  within  more  moderate  limits. 


DAVID  HOSACK. 


New-Yoek,  February  1st,  1829. 


PREFATORY  NOTICES. 

o  I  :J3  8 


Special  meeting  of  the  New-  York  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society. 

At  a  special  meeting  of  the  New-York  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society,  convened 
at  their  chamber  in  the  New-York  Institution,  16th  February,  1828,  the  following  reso- 
lutions were  unanimously  adopted. 

On  motion,  resolved,  that  this  Society  are  deeply  sensible  of  their  loss,  as  well  ax 
that  of  the  state  and  nation,  in  the  death  of  their  late  President,  De  Witt  Clinton. 

Resolved,  that  Dr.  David  Hosack,  the  first  Vice  President  of  this  Society,  be 
requested  to  pronounce  a  Discourse  commemorative  of  the  worth  and  services  of  the 
deceased. 

Resolved,  that  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed  to  carry  into  effect  the  above  reso- 
lutions. Whereupon  Professor  Renwick,  Dr.  Van  Rensselaer,  Philip  Hone,  William 
Gracie,  and  Dr.  Pendleton,  were  appointed. 

Resolved,  that  the  above  resolutions  be  published. 

By  order, 

J.  VAN  RENSSELAER,  Secretary. 

B 


X 


PREFATORY  NOTICES. 


Meeting  of  the  Citizens  of  New.  York. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Citizens  of  the  city  and  county  of  New-York,  on  the  21st  of 
February  instant,  at  the  large  room  in  the  Masonic  Hall,  Broadway,  opposite  the  Hos- 
pital, convened  by  public  notice,  for  the  purpose  of  expressing  their  feelings  in  relation 
to  the  death  of  De  Witt  Clinton,  late  Governor  of  the  state,  Morgan  Lewis,  Esq.  was 
called  to  the  chair,  and  Thomas  Herttell,  appointed  secretary. 

Philip  Hone,  Esq.  late  Mayor,  then  rose  and  addressed  the  chair  as  follows  : 

This  meeting  is  convened  for  the  purpose  of  expressing  the  sense  of  the  citizens  of 
New-York,  generally,  on  the  occasion  of  the  death  of  Governor  Clinton.  The  various 
public  institutions  of  which  he  was  a  distinguished  member,  and  several  of  which  were 
planted  and  watered  by  his  hand,  have  already  paid  this  tribute  to  his  memory.  But 
we  are  assembled  to  express,  as  far  as  possible,  the  sentiments  of  the  citizens  of  New- 
York.  The  benefit  of  his  labours  for  the  public  good  are  felt  in  every  section  of  the 
state.  But  we  have  participated  largely,  and  we  claim  the  privilege  of  expressing 
loudly,  and  deeply,  our  grief  on  this  melancholy  occasion. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  pronounce  a  panegyric  on  the  great  and  good  man  whose 
loss  we  deplore.  Abler  heads  will  conceive,  more  practised  hands  will  indite,  and 
more  eloquent  lips  pronounce,  his  eulogy  ;  but  no  heart  will  be  found  to  feel  this  be- 
reavement more  sensibly  than  that  of  the  individual  who  now  addresses  you. 

Engaged  as  Governor  Clinton  has  been,  in  party  politics,  ever  since  the  commence- 
ment of  his  career  as  a  public  man,  he  was,  nevertheless,  deficient  in  that  quality  of  a 
politician,  which  is  unfortunately  too  often  considered  as  essential.  His  was  not  that 
cold,  calculating  policy,  which,  congealing  the  natural  currents  of  the  heart,  would  check 
its  godlike  impulse,  and  prevent  him  from  loving  those  who  loved  him,  lest  it  might  inter- 
fere with  his  political  plans :  he  was  not  of  that  class  of  politicians,  who  fearing  to  do 
something  wrong,  are  content  to  do  nothing  right.  By  professional  politicians  he  was 
condemned  for  this,  but  this  it  was  that  endeared  him  to  his  friends  ;  and  few  public  men 
have  ever  possessed  in  so  great  a  degree  the  affections  of  his  personal  friends. 

As  a  political  man,  and  the  leader  of  a  party,  he  had  many  adherents  and  many  oppo- 
nents. Talents  like  his,  could  not  fail  to  protrude  their  possessor  into  the  front  rank.  On 
all  occasions,  and  if  his  inclinations  had  led  him  at  any  time  to  seek  the  immunity  of  neu- 


PREFATORY  NOTICES. 


xi 


trality,in  relation  to  questions  of  a  public  nature,  the  voice  of  his  fellow-citizens  would  have 
forbidden  it.  But  happily  for  his  fame,  his  claims  are  more  substantial  than  those  merely 
of  the  leader  of  a  political  sect.  In  the  silence  of  the  tomb,  the  voice  of  party  is  hushed, 
and  our  lamented  Clinton  will  be  remembered  as  the  proudest  ornament  of  the  state. 
She  weeps  for  him,  as  the  enlightened  scholar  ;  the  patron  and  efficient  supporter  of 
those  liberal  institutions,  which  serve  to  adorn  our  country,  and  to  meliorate  the  condition 
of  its  citizens  ;  the  patriotic  and  incorruptible  statesman,  and  the  active,  zealous, 
fearless  advocate  of  internal  improvements — that  cause  in  which  his  political  and 
personal  reputation  was  so  deeply  identified,  that  its  failure  would  have  been  his 
defeat,  as  its  successful  accomplishment  is  his  glory.  It  has  succeeded — and  his  fellow- 
citizens  will  not  refuse  him  their  gratitude,  which  alone  constituted  the  ultimate  object 
of  his  patriotic  labours. 

The  Legislature  of  the  state  are  at  present  engaged  in  such  measures  as  are  best 
calculated  to  assuage  the  grief  of  his  bereaved  relatives,  and  to  redound  to  their  own 
honour  ;  and  we  are  assembled  this  day  to  encourage  them  in  well-doing  by  an  approval 
of  those  measures;  and  in  mingling  our  tears  with  those  which  have  been  shed  in  other 
parts  of  the  state,  to  express  how  deeply  this  afflictive  dispensation  of  Divine  Providence 
is  felt  by  the  city  of  New-York. 

Mr.  Hone  then  offered  the  following  resolutions  : 

Resolved,  that  we  deplore,  in  common  with  our  fellow-citizens,  the  dispensation  of 
Providence  which  has  deprived  us  of  our  late  Chief  Magistrate  De  Witt  Clinton,  and 
unite  with  heartfelt  sincerity  in  the  sorrow  which  has  followed  him  to  the  tomb. 

Resolved,  that,  while  in  the  death  of  De  Witt  Clinton  we  recognise  a  nation's  loss, — 
which  demands  the  expression  of  a  nation's  grief, — we  especially  feel  the  bereavement, 
as  inhabitants  of  this  city,  which  by  his  genius,  virtues,  and  untiring  exertions,  has  been 
rendered  the  seat  of  commerce,  prosperity,  and  opulence. 

Resolved,  that  a  committee  of  two  persons  from  each  ward  be  appointed,  to  consider 
and  recommend  such  measures  as  they  may  deem  necessary  and  proper  for  rendering 
honour  to  the  character  and  public  services  of  the  deceased. 

Elbert  Herring,  Esquire,  seconded  the  resolutions,  and  addressed  the  meeting  as 
follows  : 


xii 


PREFATORY  NOTICES. 


Mr.  Chairman, 

It  is  with  much  emotion,  that  I  second  the  resolutions  just  now  offered.  The 
merit  of  the  great  man,  whose  death  has  assembled  us,  demands  an  abler  eulogist ;  and, 
I  trust,  that  richer  praise  and  worthier  tributes  of  respect  may  follow  my  humble  offer- 
ing. It  is,  however,  grateful  to  my  feelings  to  mingle  my  own  with  the  general  sorrow, 
and  to  manifest  regard  for  the  memory  of  him,  whom,  when  living,  I  never  ceased  to 
honour.  It  is  creditable  to  our  nature  to  weep  over  departed  worth  ;  and  it  is  alike  our 
duty  and  interest  to  mourn  over,  and  to  deck  the  graves  of  the  illustrious  dead.  And 
could  death  have  struck  down  a  nobler  victim  ?  Could  the  grave  have  closed  upon  one 
more  devoted  to  his  country  ?  or  more  useful  to  the  human  family  ?  or  more  endeared 
to  the  wise  and  the  good  ?  Early  in  life  he,  whose  death  we  deplore,  and  whose  me- 
mory we  would  honour,  was  called  by  his  countrymen  into  public  employment ;  and 
from  that  time  till  our  bereavement,  his  mighty  mind  was  consecrated  to  the  service  of 
his  country.  For  more  than  thirty  years  he  has  passed  in  review  before  you,  occupying 
many  official  stations,  shedding  lustre  upon  them  all,  and  impressing  upon  all  the  cha- 
racter of  his  exalted  mind.  From  the  commencement  to  the  close  of  his  brilliant 
career,  he  was  the  distinguished  patron  of  science  and  the  arts,  and  the  untiring  advocate 
of  charitable  and  moral  institutions.  Whatever  was  great,  or  good,  or  useful — what- 
ever we  respect,  or  admire,  or  applaud — whatever  tended  to  dignify  human  nature  and 
meliorate  the  condition  of  man,  to  promote  the  cause  of  virtue,  and  exalt  the  character 
of  his  country,  was  sure  to  find  in  him  zealous  support  and  efficient  aid.  To  his  inde- 
fatigable exertions,  the  school  fund,  in  a  great  measure,  owes  its  prosperity.  His  efforts 
have  pre-eminently  diffused  education  through  our  state  ;  and  to  thousands  has  the  book 
of  knowledge  been  opened,  who  but  for  him  would  have  been  uneducated  and  unen- 
lightened, blind  to  its  beauties  and  its  blessings  :  he  saw  in  the  diffusion  of  knowledge 
and  the  mental  culture  of  his  countrymen,  their  just  appreciation  of  their  own  rights, 
their  love  of  freedom,  and  the  stability  and  permanency  of  our  civil  institutions. 

Under  his  fostering  care,  agriculture  left  its  unprogressive  position,  and  made  rapid 
strides  in  improvement.  He  realized  the  blessings  that  follow  in  her  train.  He  knew 
that  she  dispensed  wealth,  cherished  independence,  and  inculcated  morality;  and  he, 
the'refore,  made  it  the  subject  of  special  communication  to  our  Legislature. 

He  was  the  constant  advocate  of  charitable  and  moral  institutions.  He  considered 
them  the  handmaids  of  benevolence  and  virtue, — ministering  to  the  happiness  and 


PREFATORY  NOTICES. 


xiii 


advancing  the  best  interests  of  society  ;  and  he  lent  them  the  influence  of  his  talents 
and  of  his  great  name. 

And,  Sir,  his  energy  and  influence  and  foresight,  intermingled  the  Lakes  and  the 
Hudson.  The  great  Western  Canal  owns  him  as  its  efficient  patron.  His  comprehen- 
sive mind  grasped  its  stupendous  importance.  He  viewed,  in  its  completion,  the 
prosperity  of  the  state,  and  the  glory  of  the  nation.  And  on  its  accomplishment  he 
hazarded  his  renown.  The  pledge  was  nobly  given.  That  work  alone  will  immor- 
talize his  name  ;  and  the  benefits  resulting  from  it  will  transcend  the  power  of  com- 
putation. 

This,  Sir,  is  a  rapid  glance  at  some  of  his  public  services.  Less  could  not  be  said. 
But  his  eulogy  will  be  emphatically,  and  sublimely,  and  beautifully  pronounced  by  the 
prosperity  and  aggrandizement  of  the  state  and  the  nation. 

This  illustrious  man  was  in  one  instant  passing  before  us  in  his  career  of  usefulness, 
with  the  brilliancy  of  a  meteor,  and  in  the  next  the  mourners  were  bearing  him  to 
his  long  home.  But  he  is  embalmed  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen,  because  he  pur- 
sued the  best  interests,  and  advanced  the  true  glory,  of  his  country.  His  fame  is  the 
rich  inheritance  of  the  nation.  The  splendid  legacy  is  imperishable.  It  will  last  as  long 
as  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie  shall  wind  around  the  hills  and  flow  over  the  valleys  of  the 
west  in  its  passage  to  the  ocean.  It  will  last,  till  the  stream  of  time  shall  mingle  with 
and  be  lost  in  the  ocean  of  eternity.  We  attest  his  worth  by  our  sorrow  ;  and  we  offer 
our  tribute  of  mournful  respect  to  this  friend  of  science,  this  patron  of  the  arts,  this 
ornament  of  our  country,  this  benefactor  of  mankind. 

Resolved,  that  these  proceedings  be  signed  by  the  Chairman  and  Secretary,  and 
published. 

Resolved,  that  this  meeting  adjourn  to  such  time  and  place  as  shall  be  designated 
by  the  Chairman  by  public  notice. 


MORGAN  LEWIS,  Chairman. 
THOMAS  HERTTELL,  Secretary. 


xiv 


PREFATORY  NOTICES. 


New-York,  April  2d,  1828. 

Sir, 

At  a  general  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  New-York,  a  committee  was  appointed  from 
each  ward,  to  adopt  suitable  measures  to  render  a  tribute  of  their  respect  to  the  memory 
of  De  Witt  Clinton.    By  the  direction  of  that  committee,  we  request  the  favour  of  you  to 
pronounce  an  Eulogy  on  the  character  and  services  of  that  distinguished  man. 
We  are,  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servants, 

JOHN  STEARNS,  \ 

E.  A.  BANCKER,         V  Committee. 

ELBERT  HERRING,  ) 

David  Hosack,  M.  D. 


To  the  preceding  requests  a  verbal  answer,  accepting  the  invitation,  was  communi- 
cated to  the  gentlemen  composing  the  committees,  with  the  promise  of  informing  them 
when  the  performance  of  the  duty  might  be  expected. 


The  general  committee  appointed  at  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  in  February  last,  to 
recommend  suitable  measures  for  rendering  honour  to  the  memory  of  De  Witt  Clinton, 
met  at  the  City  Hall,  on  the  1st  of  November  instant,  when  the  special  committee  re- 
ported, that  Dr.  David  Hosack  had  consented  to  deliver  a  Discourse  commemorative  of 
the  character  and  public  services  of  De  Witt  Clinton,  at  such  time  and  place  as  might 
be  designated  for  that  purpose.  The  said  committee  further  reported,  that  the  Consis- 
tory of  the  Middle  Dutch  Church  had  kindly  granted  the  use  of  the  said  church  for  the 
contemplated  purpose.  Whereupon, 

Resolved,  that  the  said  report  be  accepted. 

Resolved,  that  Dr.  Hosack  be  requested  to  deliver  his  Discourse  in  the  said  church, 
on  Saturday,  the  8th  of  November  instant,  at  12  o'clock  at  noon. 

Resolved,  that  Dr.  John  Stearns,  Evert  A.  Bancker,  and  Elbert  Herring,  Esqs.  be  a 
committee  to  make  the  necessary  arrangements. 

PHILIP  HONE,  Chairman  pro  tem. 
THOMAS  HERTTELL,  Secretary. 


PREFATORY  NOTICES. 


xv 


Agreeably  to  the  appointment  of  the  citizens,  and  of  the  Literary  and  Philosophical 
Society,  Dr.  David  Hosack  will  pronounce  a  Discourse,  commemorative  of  the  charac- 
ter  and  services  of  the  late  De  Witt  Clinton,  on  Saturday,  at  12  o'clock,  in  the  Middle 
Dutch  Church  in  Cedar-street. 

The  Honourable  the  Corporation,  the  Clergy,  Governor,  Chancellor,  Judges  of  the 
Courts,  Literary  and  Benevolent  Societies,  Gentlemen  of  the  Bar  and  of  the  Medical 
Faculty,  and  Citizens,  are  requested  to  assemble  at  the  City  Hall,  at  half  past  1 1  o'clock, 
to  join  the  procession  from  that  place  to  the  church. 

ORDER  OF  THE  PROCESSION. 

The  Mayor  and  Corporation,  the  General  Committee,  the  Clergy,  the  Governor, 
Chancellor,  Judges  of  the  Courts,  Strangers  of  distinction,  Cincinnati  Society,  Literary 
and  Benevolent  Societies,  Professors  and  Trustees  of  Colleges,  Gentlemen  of  the  Bar 
and  of  the  Medical  Faculty,  Citizens. 

By  order, 


JOHN  STEARNS, 
EVERT  A.  BANCKER, 
ELBERT  HERRING, 

New- York,  November  6th,  1828. 


Committee  of 
Arrangement. 


New-  York  State  Society  of  Cincinnati. 

New- York,  November  7,  1828. 

The  President  informs  the  members  of  the  Society,  that  they  have  been  particularly 
invited  to  attend  the  delivery  of  a  Discourse  commemorative  of  the  character  and  public 
services  of  his  Excellency  De  Witt  Clinton,  deceased,  late  Governor  of  this  state,  and 
at  the  time  of  his  death  a  member  of  this  state  society.  The  discourse  is  to  be  de- 
livered by  Dr.  Hosack,  in  the  Middle  Dutch  Church,  to-morrow  at  12  o'clock,  but  the 
members  are  requested  to  meet  at  the  City  Hall,  at  half  past  11  o'clock,  for  the  purpose 
of  joining  in  a  procession  to  be  formed  at  the  latter  place. 

By  order  of  Col.  Richard  Varick,  President. 

CHARLES  GRAHAM,  Secretary. 


xvi 


PREFATORY  NOTICES. 


Extract  from  the  Minutes  of  the  New-  York  Later ary  and  Philosophical  Society. 

At  a  stated  meeting  of  the  New- York  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society,  held  Nov. 
13,  1828,  the  following  resolution  was  unanimously  adopted  : 

Resolved,  that  the  respectful  thanks  of  this  society  be  presented  to  Dr.  David  Hosack, 
for  his  able,  eloquent,  and  comprehensive  tribute  to  the  exalted  character  of  our  late 
President,  the  lamented  Clinton;  and  that  a  committee  be  appointed  to  request  Dr. 
Hosack  to  gratify  the  society  by  furnishing  a  copy  of  his  Biographical  Discourse  for 
publication. 

The  following  gentlemen  were  appointed  the  committee — the  Rev.  Mr.  Schroeder, 
Gen.  Morton,  Dr.  Van  Rensselaer. 

This  is  to  certify,  that  the  above  is  a  correct  copy  from  the  minutes. 

WASHINGTON  QUINCY  MORTON, 

Recording  Secretary. 

November  15,  1828. 


New-York,  Nov.  15th,  1828. 

Dear  Sir, 

The  members  of  the  New-York  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society  have  been 
peculiarly  gratified  by  your  glowing  Biography  of  their  revered  President ;  and  they 
esteem  it  the  vigorous  and  successful  execution  of  an  enviable  work.  You  have  vividly 
portrayed  the  soul  of  that  illustrious  man,  warm  with  the  best  feelings  of  humanity, 
enriched  by  its  most  valuable  treasures,  and  ennobled  by  its  loftiest  and  most  extended 
views.  You  have  evinced,  that,  to  our  commonwealth,  he  was  an  invaluable  citizen  ; 
to  our  country,  a  bright  ornament ;  and  to  the  world  at  large,  a  most  distinguished 
benefactor. 

While  all  mingle  their  just  tribute  to  his  imperishable  memory,  we  would  unite  in 
the  exclamation, 

 Magna  supremum  voce  ciemus  ; 

for  it  was  in  him  that  we  recognised  the  founder  of  our  institution,  and  our  leading 
officer  until  his  sad  farewell.    We  mourn  his  absence  ;  yet  we  rejoice  to  think,  that, 


PREFATORY  NOTICES. 


xvii 


while  his  works  enrich  the  library  of  nations,  by  your  complying  with  the  request  which 
it  is  our  pleasing  duty  to  convey  to  you,  your  pencil  may  perpetuate  the  moral  linea- 
ments of  our  venerated  Clinton. 

We  have  the  honour  to  be, 

Dear  Sir,  your  obedient  servants, 

J.  F.  SCI1ROEDER, 
J.  MORTON, 

JER.  VAN  RENSSELAER. 

To  David  Hosack,  M.D.  LL.D. 


To  the  Rev.  J.  F.  Schroeder,  Gen.  Jacob  Morton,  and  Jeremiah  Van  Rensselaer,  M.D. 
Committee  of  the  New-  York  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society. 

New-York^  November  15th,  182S. 

Gentlemen, 

The  same  feeling  which  induced  me  to  undertake  the  duty  with  which  the  Literary 
and  Philosophical  Society  deemed  it  proper  to  honour  me,  will  impel  me  to  comply  with 
the  resolution  passed  at  a  late  meeting  of  that  institution,  requesting  a  copy  of  my  Dis- 
course for  publication. 

While,  therefore,  I  gratefully  acknowledge  my  sense  of  the  kindness  which  has 
dictated  the  approbation  expressed  by  the  resolution  of  the  society,  I  beg  you  will  also 
accept  my  thanks  for  the  courteous  terms  in  which  you  have  communicated  their 
request. 

I  am,  gentlemen, 
With  great  regard  and  respect, 

Your  humble  servant, 

DAVID  HOSACK. 


(' 


xviii 


PREFATORY  NOTICES. 


At  a  meeting  of  the  general  committee,  appointed  by  the  citizens  to  devise  and  re- 
commend suitable  measures  to  honour  the  memory  of  De  Witt  Clinton, — 

Resolved,  that  the  thanks  of  this  committee  be  presented  to  Dr.  David  Hosack,  for 
his  able  and  interesting  discourse,  commemorative  of  the  character  and  public  services 
of  De  Witt  Clinton. 

Resolved,  that  Dr.  John  Stearns,  Evert  A.  Bancker,  Elbert  Herring,  John  L.  Gra- 
ham, and  Thomas  Herttell,  Esquires,  be  a  committee,  to  request  from  Dr.  Hosack  a  copy 
of  his  Address  for  publication. 

MORGAN  LEWIS,  Chairman. 
THOMAS  HERTTELL,  Secretary. 


Sir, 

We  have  the  honour  to  transmit  to  you  the  enclosed  resolution,  passed  at  a  recent 
meeting  of  the  general  committee,  in  behalf  of  the  citizens.  While  we  cordially  con- 
cur in  this  public  acknowledgment,  we  avail  ourselves  of  this  opportunity  individually 
to  express  our  thanks  for  your  prompt  acquiescence  in  the  general  wish,  and  for  the 
very  able  manner  in  which  the  trust  has  been  executed.  We  flatter  ourselves,  you  will 
add  to  our  gratification  by  giving  publicity  to  a  Discourse,  equally  creditable  to  the 
author  and  the  illustrious  deceased. 

JOHN  STEARNS,  \ 

EVERT  A.  BANCKER,  I 

ELBERT  HERRING,      >  Special  Committee. 

JOHN  L.  GRAHAM,  I 

THOMAS  HERTTELL,  / 

Dr.  David  Hosack. 


To  John  Stearns,  M.D.,  Evert  A.  Bancker,  Elbert  Herring,  John  L.  Graham,  and 
Thomas  Herttell,  Esquires. 

New-York,  November,  1828. 

Gentlemen, 

Honoured  by  the  request  of  the  committee  of  my  fellow-citizens,  I  have  endea- 
voured,  to  the  best  of  my  abilities,  to  portray  the  fife  and  services  of  the  late  distin- 


PREFATORY  NOTICES. 


\i\ 


guishcd  Chief  Magistrate  of  this  state.  If  in  the  performance  of  the  duty  assigned  me, 
I  have,  in  any  measure,  realized  your  expectations,  I  cannot  feel  myself  at  liberty  to 
decline  a  compliance  with  the  request  you  have  kindly  preferred  to  obtain  a  copy  of  my 
Discourse  for  publication.  I,  therefore,  submit  the  same  to  the  disposal  of  the  general 
committee. 

I  am,  gentlemen, 
With  sentiments  of  personal  esteem  and  great  respect, 
Your  humble  servant, 

DAVID  HOSACK. 


At  a  special  meeting  of  the  Rutgers  3Iedical  Faculty  of  Geneva  College,  held  at  the 
College,  on  the  15th  November,  1828, — 

On  motion,  unanimously  resolved,  that  this  Faculty  have  listened  with  high  satisfac- 
tion to  the  Discourse  delivered  by  their  President,  Dr.  Hosack,  commemorative  of  the 
life  and  services  of  the  late  Governor  Clinton.  And  further,  that  this  Faculty  have 
ever  recognised  in  the  illustrious  deceased,  the  faithful  patriot,  the  enlightened  patron 
of  the  arts  and  sciences,  and  the  especial  friend  and  supporter  of  medical  science,  and 
of  the  members  of  this  Faculty. 

By  order, 

WILLIAM  JAMES  MACNEVEN,  M.  D. 

President  pro  tem. 
JOHN  W.  FRANCIS,  M.  D. 

Registrar. 


m 

i 


i 


CONTENTS. 


ANALYSIS  OF  THE  DISCOURSE. 

PAGE 

1.  Ancestry  of  De  Witt  Clinton   23 

2.  His  birth  and  early  education,   28 

3.   collegiate  and  professional  education,   31 

4.   marriage,   32 

5.  connexion  with  masonry,   33 

6.   literary  character,   34 

7.   connexion  with  literary  and  philosophical  institutions,   36 

8.   industry  and  habits  of  study,   38 

9.   character  as  a  speaker  and  writer,   39 

10.   entrance  into  political  life,-   41 

11.  Becomes  a  member  of  the  Legislature,   41 

12.  His  political  character,   42 

13.  Appointed  a  Senator  of  the  United  States,   45 

14.  The  objects  of  his  attention  as  a  member  of  the  state  legislature,   45 

15.  Is  appointed  Mayor  of  the  City  of  New- York,   49 

16.  His  patriotism   52 

17.   legal  character  as  a  criminal  Judge,   53 

18.                               as  a  member  of  the  Court  of  Errors,   55 

10.  His  proposed  revision  of  the  laws,  ,   61 

20.   election  as  Governor  of  the  State,   64 

21.   administration,   70 

22.  Style  of  his  writings,   74 

23.  His  speech  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States   74 

24.   speeches  and  messages  as  Governor,    75 

25.   discourse  before  the  Historical  Society,    76 


CONTENTS. 


PACE 

26.  His  discourse  before  the  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society,   76 

27.  Academy  of  Arts,  •   76 

28.   at  Union  College,  \  .....  :  80 

29.  to  the  Alumni  of  Columbia  College,   81 

30.  His  letter  to  Judge  Edwards,   81 

31.  Is  appointed  Canal  Commissioner,   82 

32.  His  services  in  the  canal  navigation  of  this  state,   100 

33.   removal  as  Canal  Commissioner,   108 

34.  Description  of  his  person,  .  .  .  .  \   120 

35.  His  private  virtues,  ........  ....  r  ...  .  124 

36.   domestic  character,   125 

37.   religious  sentiments,   127 

38.  Closing  scenes  of  his  life,   129 

39.  His  death  and  funeral  obsequies,   131 

40.  General  outline  of  his  character,   132 


CONTENTS  OF  THE  APPENDIX. 


t.  Ancestors  of  De  Witt  Clinton,   137 

2.  His  services  to  the  Historical  Society,   141 

3.   attainments  in  natural  history,   145 

4.   services  to  the  New-York  Hospital  and  the  Asylum  for  Maniacs,   152 

5.   improvement  of  the  school  fund  and  promotion  of  common  schools,   155 

6.   patronage  of  the  Lancasterian  system  of  education,   164 

7.  services  in  the  establishment  of  Infant  Schools,   173 

8.  Communications  from  Samuel  H.  Cox,  D.  D   177 

9.  Mr.  Clinton's  character  and  services  as  Chief  Magistrate,   185 

10.  Acknowledgment  of  his  public  services  by  the  Merchants  of  the  City  of  New- York,   .  .  186 

11.  Chancellor  Kent's  notice  of  Mr.  Clinton's  legal  opinions,   193 

12.  Counsellor  Sampson's  view  of  Mr.  Clinton's  legal  character  and  opinions,   194 

13.  Mr.  Clinton's  tender  of  military  services  in  the  year  of  1812,   196 

14.  Termination  of  Mr.  Clinton's  administration  under  the  old  constitution — approbation  of 

the  citizens  of  Albany,   198 

15.  Mr.  Clinton's  address  to  the  judiciary  of  the  state,   204 

16.  Reply  of  Chancellor  Kent, '   205 

17.   of  Judge  Piatt,   „   206 


CONTENTS.  xxiii 

PAGE 

18.  Judge  Conkling's  testimonial  to  the  merits  and  services  of  Mr.  Clinton,   207 

19.  Mr.  Clinton's  communication  to  the  Commissioners  of  the  state  of  New-Jersey  in  relation 

to  the  Canal  from  the  Delaware  to  the  Passaic,   209 

20.  His  communication  to  the  Canal  Commissioners  of  the  state  of  Ohio  relative  to  the  Ohio 

Canal,    217 

21.  Communication  relative  to  the  Morris  Canal,   220 

22.  His  ohservations  relative  to  the  Hampshire  and  Hampden  Canals,   222 

23.  Delaware  and  Karitan  Canal,   226 

24.  Governor  Clinton's  ohservations  relative  to  the  case  of  Miller  under  sentence  of  death 

^       for  murder,   228 

25.  His  letter  to  Judge  Edwards,   229 

26.  Lieutenant-Governor  Coldcn's  account  of  the  fur  trade  and  predictions  of  the  improved 

internal  navigation  of  the  state  of  New-York,   232 

27.  Examination  of  the  claims  of  Gouverneur  Morris  relative  to  the  Erie  Canal,   245 

28.  General  Washington's  views  of  the  inland  navigation  of  the  United  States,   273 

29.  Services  of  Christopher  Colics  and  of  Jeffrey  Smith,   280 

30.  *  Governor  George  Clinton's  notices  of  the  internal  navigation  of  the  state,   285 

31.  Services  of  Elkanah  Watson  and  of  General  Schuyler,   289 

32.  Claims  of  Jesse  Hawley,  relative  to  the  Eric  Canal,   299 

33.  Essays  of  Jesse  Hawley,  as  puhlished  in  the  Genesee  Messenger,   306 

34.  Claims  of  Joshua  Fonnan,   342 

35.  Services  rendered  by  the  valuable  report  of  Mr.  Gallatin — the  speech  of  Mr.  Pope  of  Ken- 

tucky— the  speech  of  Peter  B.  Porter,  and  by  the  writings  of  Dr.  Hugh  Williamson,  .  357 

36.  Speech  of  Peter  B.  Porter  in  the  House  of  Representatives  on  internal  improvements,  .  .  359 

37.  Services  of  the  late  Thomas  Eddy,   374 

38.  Services  of  Jonas  Piatt,   379 

39.  Communication  from  Dr.  Samuel  L.  Mitchill,   389 

40.  from  Edward  P.  Livingston,   394 

41.  Injustice  of  a  proposed  tax  of  the  general  government  upon  the  trade  of  the  Canal — 

observations  on,  by  Mr.  Colden  and  Governor  Clinton,   399 

42.  Speech  of  Gen.  Talmadge  on  the  same,   401 

43.  Memorial  by  Governor  Clinton,   406 

44.  Services  of  the  late  Dr.  Hugh  Williamson,   421 

45.  of  Robert  Troup,   423 

46.  of  Gideon  Granger,  Myron  Hollcy,  John  Grcig,  Nathaniel  Howell,  and  Na- 
thaniel Rochester,   424 

47.  Communication  from  William  L.  Stone,  relative  to  the  legislative  proceedings  of  1816 

and  1817,  1   429 

48.  Services  of  Nathaniel  Pendleton,  William  Duer,  Peter  A.  Jay,  James  Lynch,  Jacob  Rutscn 

Van  Rensselaer,  Elisha  Williams,  Martin  \  an  Burcn,  and  Samuel  M.  Hopkins,  .  .  .  450 


xxiv  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

49.  Letter  from  James  Lynch,   461  " 

50.  Removal  of  De  Witt  Clinton  as  Canal  Commissioner,   464 

51.  Address  of  the  Citizens  of  Albany  on  his  removal,  .   465 

52.  Mr.  Clinton's  reply,   4fi7 

53.  Meeting  and  address  of  the  Citizens  of  New- York,   469 

54.  Reply  of  Mr.  Clinton,   476 

55.  Mr.  Cunningham's  speech  in  the  House  of  Assembly,   483 

56.  Services  of  George  Tibbits,   487 

57.  Communication  of  Wheeler  Barnes,   491 

58.  Messages  of  Governor  Yates  in  1823-1824,   493 

59.  Communication  from  Nathaniel  H.  Carter,   496 

60.  Address  of  the  Citizens  of  Utica  to  Governor  Clinton  and  his  reply,   497 

61.  Services  of  Benjamin  Wright  and  Canvass  White,   500 

62.  Resolutions  of  the  Bar  of  New-York,  and  address  of  George  Griffin,  Esq   505 

63.  Analysis  of  Gov.  Clinton's  Discourse  before  the  Alumni  of  Columbia  College,   507 

64.  Proceedings  of  the  Alumni  upon  the  death  of  Gov.  Clinton,   513 

65.  Letters  announcing  the  deatli  of  Gov.  Clinton,   '514 

66.  Proceedings  of  the  Legislature  upon  his  death,   517 

67.  Corporation  of  the  city  of  Albany,   522 

68.  Citizens  of  Albany,   523 

69.  Funeral  of  Governor  Clinton   524 

70.  Proceedings  of  the  Common  Council  of  the  city  of  New- York,   527 

71.  Proceedings  of  the  New-York  Delegation  at  the  city  of  Washington,   528 

72.  Letter  of  condolence  from  Lafayette,   530 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


GENTLEMEN,  MEMBERS  OF  THE  LITERARY  AND  PHILOSOPHICAL  SOCIETY, 
AND  FELLOW-CITIZENS. 

The  feelings  which  arise  in  the  bosom  of  him  who  now  addresses 
you,  will  readily  be  anticipated,  and  cannot  fail  to  find  a  response  in 
the  hearts  of  all  who  are  assembled  upon  this  solemn  occasion. 

Ere  this,  you  expected  to  have  heard  the  well  known  voice  of 
your  Clinton,  pronouncing  an  eulogy  upon  the  merits,  the  talents, 
and  the  virtues  of  the  orator  and  patriot,  the  lamented  Emmet: 
But,  alas !  such  are  the  dispensations  of  Providence,  such  is  the 
precarious  tenure  of  our  existence,  that  voice  too,  is  hushed  in 
death,  and  the  remains  of  those  two  illustrious  men,  whose  lives 
have  been  spent  at  the  shrine  of  patriotism,  whose  worth  would 
have  done  honour  to  any  age  or  nation,  in  ancient  or  in  modern 
times,  are  now  enclosed  in  the  tomb. — But  their  memory  still  lives; 
and,  when  their  deeds  shall  be  recorded  by  some  future  Plutarch, 
they  will  afford  to  their  youthful  successors,  illustrious  examples  by 
which  they  also  may  acquire  the  regard  and  gratitude  of  their 
country,  and  be  rendered  worthy  of  the  veneration  of  posterity. 

Although  I  am  deeply  sensible  of  the  magnitude  of  the  task  w  inch 
has  been  assigned  me,  and  almost  discouraged  from  the  attempt 

1 


22 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


to  perform  it,  yet  when  I  consider  the  invitation  with  which  I  have 
been  honoured  by  my  fellow-citizens,  the  relation  in  which  I  stand  to 
the  Institution  of  which  Mr.  Clinton  was  the  presiding  officer,  and 
the  uninterrupted  friendship  with  which,  during  a  period  of  more 
than  forty  years,  "  e'en  from  our  boyish  days,"  I  have  been 
regarded  by  the  late  distinguished  man  whose  loss  we  now  deplore, 
I  do  not  feel  myself  at  liberty  to  decline  the  effort  to  comply  with 
your  wishes,  upon  the  present  occasion,  however  imperfect  may  be 
the  execution  of  the  task  I  have  ventured  to  assume. 

But  I  come  not  here  to  burn  the  incense  of  adulation,  or  to 
load  his  memory  with  indiscriminate  praise,  or  unmerited  panegyric : 
his  native  powers  of  mind,  his  education,  his  extensive  and  varied 
acquirements,  his  writings,  his  public  works,  his  private  virtues,  his 
patriotism,  his  unsullied  integrity,  his  moral  feelings,  his  religious 
faith,  his  devotion  to  the  interests  of  the  state,  to  science,  to 
literature,  and  those  benevolent  institutions  calculated  to  promote 
the  happiness  of  man,  will  constitute  his  best  eulogy.  To  exhibit 
these  to  your  view,  will  be  my  present  endeavour,  and  the  highest 
object  and  gratification  of  my  ambition.  These  faithfully  exhibited, 
cannot  fail  to  compose  a  portrait,  alike  honourable  to  the  age 
which  he  adorned,  and  a  model  of  imitation  worthy  of  succeeding 
generations. 

Introductory  to  these  important  themes,  permit  me  to  ask  your 
attention,  for  a  few  moments,  to  a  brief  account  of  the  ancestors  of 
Mr.  Clinton;  for,  in  them  we  shall  find  the  prototype  of  the 
great  intellectual  features  and  moral  character,  as  well  as  the 
personal  dignity  and  deportment,  the  favourite  pursuits  and  the 
patriotic  feelings  that  characterized  him  whose  outline  it  will  now 
become  my  endeavour  to  delineate. 

Mr.  Clinton's  earliest  ancestors  were  of  English  origin.  William 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


23 


Clinton,  from  whom  his  descent  is  traced,  was  an  adherent  of  the 
royal  cause  in  the  civil  wars  of  England,  and  an  officer  in  the  army 
of  Charles  the  first. 

After  the  dethronement  of  that  monarch,  Mr.  Clinton  took  refuge 
on  the  continent,  where  he  remained  a  long  time  in  exile.  Having 
spent  some  in  France  and  Spain,  he  secretly  proceeded  to  Scotland, 
where  he  married  a  lady  of  the  family  of  Kennedy.  With  a  view 
to  safety,  he  then  passed  over  to  the  north  of  Ireland,  where  he 
died,  deprived  of  his  patrimony,  leaving  James,  an  orphan  son, 
then  two  years  old. 

When  James  arrived  at  manhood,  he  went  to  England,  for  the 
purpose  of  recovering  his  patrimonial  estate ;  but,  being  barred  by 
the  limitation  of  an  act  of  Parliament,  he  returned  to  Ireland,  and 
finally  settled  in  the  county  of  Longford;  having,  during  his  visit 
to  the  country  of  his  ancestors,  married  Miss  Elizabeth  Smith, 
the  daughter  of  a  Captain  in  Cromwell's  army.  By  this  connexion 
he  was  enabled  to  maintain,  at  that  time,  a  respectable  standing 
in  the  country  of  his  adoption. 

Charles  Clinton,  the  son  of  James,  and  the  grandfather  of 
De  Witt  Clinton,  was  born  in  the  county  of  Longford,  in  Ireland, 
in  1690.  In  1729  he  resolved  to  emigrate  to  this  country,  with  the 
intention  to  settle  in  Pennsylvania. 

In  the  latter  end  of  May  of  that  year,  accompanied  by  many  of 
his  friends  who  adhered  to  his  fortunes,  he  embarked  with  his 
family,  consisting  of  his  wife,  two  daughters,  and  one  son ;  but 
owing  to  a  peculiar  and  disastrous  train  of  circumstances  on  the 
voyage,  during  which  they  lost  one  son  and  one  daughter,  they  did 
not  arrive  until  the  month  of  October,  when  they  were  landed  at 
Cape  Cod.  In  the  vicinity  of  that  place  they  resided  until  the 
spring  of  1731,  when  Mr.  Clinton  removed  with  his  family,  and  the 


24 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


friends  who  had  embarked  their  fortunes  with  his,  to  a  part  of 
Ulster,  now  Orange  county,  in  the  state  of  New-York,  where  they 
formed  a  permanent  and  flourishing  settlement. 

The  part  of  the  country  which  he  selected,  was  then  wild  and 
uncultivated,  covered  with  forests,  but  well  watered,  diversified 
with  hills  and  vales,  and  abundant  in  the  products  of  cultivation. 
Although  only  eight  miles  from  the  Hudson  river,  and  sixty  from  the 
city  of  New-York,  these  hardy  pioneers  were  at  that  period  so 
exposed  to  the  incursions  of  the  Indians,  then  inhabiting  the 
vicinity  of  their  residence,  that  it  was  found  necessary  to  erect  a 
palisade  work  around  his  house,  for  the  security  of  himself  and 
his  neighbours.  In  this  retreat  Mr.  Clinton  spent  his  time  in  the 
improvement  of  his  farm,  in  the  cultivation  of  literature,  in  the 
enjoyment  of  his  library,  the  education  of  his  children,*  and  occa- 
sionally acting  as  a  surveyor  of  land,  for  which  he  was  well  qualified 
by  his  education,  and  particularly  his  mathematical  knowledge,  in 
which  he  eminently  excelled.  Possessed  of  a  well  selected  library, 
and  endowed  with  extraordinary  talents,  he  made  continual  acces- 
sions to  his  store  of  useful  knowledge. 

The  character  he  uniformly  sustained,  was  that  of  pure  morals, 
a  strong  and  cultivated  understanding,  great  respectability,  and 
dignity  of  deportment,  and  extensive  influence. 

Having  been  well  educated,  he  soon  attained  to  notice  and 
distinction.  His  first  appointment  was  that  of  a  Justice  of  the 
peace ;  he  was  afterwards  promoted  to  the  station  of  a  Judge  of 
the  Common  Pleas  for  the  county  of  Ulster.    In  1756  he  was 


*  Colonel  Clinton  in  educating  his  children,  also  availed  himself  of  the  services  of  Daniel 
Thain,  a  gentleman  who  had  been  educated  at  the  college  of  Aberdeen,  and  who  afterwards 
became  a  highly  respected  minister  of  the  gospel. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


25 


appointed,  by  the  Governor,  Sir  Charles  Hardy,  a  Lt.  Colonel  of 
the  militia  of  the  province,  and  commanded  a  regiment  at  the 
capture  of  Fort  Frontenac,  now  Kingston,  by  Colonel  Bradstreet* 
He  died  at  his  own  residence,  on  the  19th  November,  1773,  in 
the  eighty-third  year  of  his  age;  and  it  may  be*added,  just  in  time 
to  escape,  at  that  advanced  age,  the  cares  and  perplexities  of  the 
revolution  then  about  to  commence,  but  in  the  full  view  of  its 
approach.  He  expired  breathing  an  ardent  spirit  of  patriotism, 
and  in  his  last  moments,  conjuring  his  sons  to  stand  by  the  liberties 
of  America. 

Besides  the  daughter  born  in  Ireland,  he  had  four  sons  in  this 
country.  Alexander,  educated  in  the  college  of  Princeton,  and 
afterwards  a  physician.  Charles,  also  an  eminent  physician,  and 
a  surgeon  in  the  British  Army,  at  the  capture  of  the  Havana. 
James,  the  father  of  De  Witt  Clinton,  and  George,  the  youngest, 
the  late  Vice  President  of  the  United  States. 

James  Clinton  was  born  on  the  13th  of  August,  1736,  at  the 
family  residence,  in  what  is  now  Orange  County,  in  the  then 
colony  of  New-York.  Possessing  strong  natural  powers  of  mind, 
he   acquired,  under  the  instruction  of  his  father,  an  excellent 


*  "  George  Clinton,  the  father  of  the  late  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  was  then  Governor  of  the 
colony.  With  this  gentleman,  Colonel  Clinton  formed  an  acquaintance,  which  might, 
perhaps,  have  been  produced  by  ties  of  distant  consanguinity,  but  which  ripened  into  an 
intimacy,  that  only  a  congeniality  of  character  could  have  effected.  The  son  of  Colonel 
Clinton,  the  late  venerable  Vice  President  of  the  United  States,  was  named  after  the 
colonial  Governor.  Several  splendid  offers,  made  to  him  by  Governor  Clinton,  were 
declined  by  the  colonel,  who  preferred  a  life  of  respectable  independence,  in  the  bosom  of  his 
family,  and  in  the  cultivation  of  letters,  surrounded  by  his  colony  of  friends  and  countrymen, 
to  all  the  allurements  of  office,  and  all  the  pageantry  of  rank." — See  Life  of  De  Witt  Clinton 
in  Delaplaine's  Repository,  Vol.  I.  p  190. 


26 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


education.  He  especially  excelled  in  the  exact  sciences,  to  which 
his  attention  had  been  particularly  directed,  and  for  which  he  had 
by  nature  a  great  predilection ;  he,  at  the  same  time,  inherited  the 
ardent  passion  for  military  life,  that  had  distinguished  his  prede- 
cessors, and  for  which  he  was  peculiarly  qualified,  by  a  vigorous 
frame  of  body,  and  the  most  intrepid  courage. ', 

In  the  war  of  1756,  he  was  appointed,  by  Sir  Charles  Hardy,  the 
then  Governor  of  the  province,  an  ensign  in  the  militia,  for  the 
County  of  Ulster.  Afterwards  remaining  in  the  provincial  army, 
under  Lieutenant  Governor  Delancey,  and  Lieutenant  Governor 
Colden,  he  was  regularly  advanced  through  all  the  grades  of 
military  promotion,  and  in  1774,  he  attained  to  the  rank  of  a 
Lieutenant  Colonel,  in  the  second  regiment  of  the  militia  of  Ulster. 

These  successive  appointments  evinced  his  military  merit,  and 
the  entire  confidence  reposed  in  his  skill  and  bravery.  After  the 
termination  of  the  French  war,  Mr.  Clinton  married  Miss  Mary 
De  Witt,  a  young  lady  of  extraordinary  merit,  whose  ancestors 
had  emigrated  from  Holland,  and  whose  very  name  proclaims  the 
high  respectability  of  their  connexions. 

After  this  event,  Mr.  Clinton,  for  a  season,  retired  from  the 
camp  to  enjoy  the  repose  of  domestic  life ;  but  this  suspension  of 
public  duty  was  but  of  short  duration.  The  revolution  having 
commenced,  he  resumed  the  character  of  the  soldier,  and  was 
appointed  by  the  continental  congress,  in  1775,  colonel  of  the  third 
regiment  of  the  New-York  forces.  In  the  succeeding  year,  he  was 
created  a  Brigadier-general  in  the  army  of  the  United  States,  and 
at  the  close  of  the  war,  was  advanced  to  the  rank  of  Major-general. 

During  the  war,  in  the  several  stations  which  he  filled,  he 
distinguished  himself  as  the  gallant  and  efficient  soldier,  performing 
several  acts  of  the  greatest  heroism,  and  displaying  the  most  perfect 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


•27 


self-possession  in  the  midst  of  the  greatest  dangers.  His  gallant 
conduct  at  the  storming  of  Fort  Clinton,  as  well  as  that  of  his 
brother  George  at  Fort  Montgomery,  in  October  1777,  will  be  ever 
memorable  in  the  history  of  our  revolution.  At  the  siege  of 
York  Town,  and  at  the  capture  of  Cornwallis,  General  Clinton  also 
displayed  his  characteristic  intrepidity.  His  last  appearance  in 
arms,  was  upon  the  evacuation  of  the  city  of  New- York  by  the 
British,  when  he  took  leave  of  the  Commander-in-Chief,  and  retired 
to  his  estate  in  Orange  County,  with  the  view  of  enjoying  that 
tranquillity,  which  was  now  called  for  by  a  long  period  of  privation 
and  fatigue,  and  that  honour,  which  was  the  due  reward  of  the 
important  services  he  had  rendered.  After  his  retirement  he  was 
still  frequently  called  upon  for  the  performance  of  civil  duties.  At 
one  period  officiating  as  a  commissioner,  to  adjust  the  boundary 
line  between  Pennsylvania  and  New- York;  at  another,  employed 
by  the  Legislature  to  settle  controversies  relative  to  the  western 
territories  of  the  state ;  and  at  different  periods,  performing  the 
duties  of  a  delegate  to  the  Assembly,  a  member  of  the  convention 
for  the  adoption  of  the  federal  constitution,  and  afterwards  a 
senator  from  the  middle  district,  in  the  New-York  Legislature,  to 
which  office  he  was  elected  without  opposition.  All  these  various 
trusts  he  executed  with  integrity,  ability,  and  the  entire  approbation 
of  his  constituents  and  the  public. 

He  died  at  his  residence  in  Orange  County,  on  the  22nd  of 
September,  1812,  the  same  year  that  terminated  the  valuable  and 
eventful  life  of  his  venerable  brother  George — "par  nobile  fratrum." 
In  the  concluding  language  of  the  inscription  upon  his  monumental 
stone,  "  performing  in  the  most  exemplary  maimer  all  the  duties  of 
life,  he  died  as  he  lived,  without  fear  and  without  reproach."  Such 


28 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


was  the  parentage  of  the  man,  whose  virtues  and  character  we  are 
now  assembled  to  commemorate.* 

De  Witt  Clinton  was  born  on  the  second  day  of  March,  1769, 
at  Little  Britain,  his  father's  residence  in  Orange  County.  He 
received  his  early  education,  at  a  grammar  school  in  his  native 
town,  under  the  direction  of  a  presbyterian  clergyman,  the  Rev. 
John  MofFatt.  In  1782,  in  order  to  prepare  him  for  college,  young 
Clinton  was  removed  to  the  academy  at  Kingston,  then  under  the 
care  of  Mr.  John  Addison,  who,  by  his  learning,  gave  celebrity  to 
that  institution.  During  the  revolutionary  war,  it  may  be  remarked, 
few  good  seminaries  for  education  existed  in  this  country;  the 
reputation  of  this  school,  necessarily  drew  to  it  most  of  the  young 
men  of  the  state  of  New-York,  who  were  then  engaged  in  their 
course  of  studies.  In  this  academy,  Mr.  Clinton  remained  a  pupil 
nearly  two  years,  pursuing  the  ordinary  routine  of  academical 
instruction. 

In  1784,  after  passing  an  examination  in  the  presence  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  the  College,  and  of  the  Regents  of  the 
University,  he  was  admitted  to  the  junior  class,  and  was  the  first 
student  who  entered  that  seminary  after  the  conclusion  of  the  war. 
He  was  well  grounded  in  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages,  and  in 
mathematics ;  for  while  at  college,  he  enjoyed  the  advantages  of 
being  instructed  in  the  classics,  by  that  highly  accomplished  and 
elegant  scholar,  the  Reverend  Dr.  William  Cochrane,  now  Vice 
President  of  the  college  of  Windsor,  Nova  Scotia,  a  graduate  of 

to  7  'o 

Trinity  college,  Dublin ;  and  in  the  mathematics,  by  John  Kemp, 


*  See  Appendix,  A. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


'-if  I 


LL.D.  an  eminent  mathematician,  and  a  graduate  of  Marischal 
college,  Aberdeen. 

These  gentlenien  were,  at  that  time,  professors  in  Columbia 
college,  in  the  zenith  of  their  usefulness  and  reputation,  and  gave 
corresponding  celebrity  to  that  institution.  Mr.  Clinton  was  gradu- 
ated a  Bachelor  of  Arts  in  1786.  On  that  occasion  he  delivered 
the  Latin  salutatory,  an  exercise  always  assigned  to  the  best 
scholar  of  the  class.  He  was  the  first  graduate  of  that  college 
after  the  revolution. 

In  a  recent  communication  received  from  his  preceptor,  the  Rev . 
Dr.  Cochran,  whose  valuable  life  and  services  are  still  continued, 
he  expresses  himself  with  great  pride  and  affection,  in  relation  to 
his  pupil  Mr.  Clinton.  The  letter  with  which  I  have  been  favoured, 
conveying  many  interesting  particulars,  bears  date  the  9th  of  May 
last. 

"  I  have  seen  by  the  public  papers,"  says  he,  "  that  your  State 
has  suffered  the  loss  of  two  eminent  men  since  I  visited  you  last 
summer;  I  mean  Mr.  Emmet  and  Governor  Clinton.  The  first 
was  my  contemporary  in  Trinity  College,  Dublin.  The  other  the 
first  pupil  I  had  in  Columbia  College.  The  event  could  not  but 
awaken  many  interesting  recollections  in  my  mind."  After  a  brief 
and  pathetic  notice  of  Mr.  Emmet,  and  of  his  family,  he  thus 
proceeds  to  speak  of  Mr.  Clinton. 

"  I  think  him  to  have  been,  both  for  talents  and  patriotism,  among 
the  very  first  men  of  whom  the  United  States  could  boast  in  his 
day.  His  conceptions  were  great,  and  his  courage,  perseverance, 
and  resources  of  mind  to  effect  them,  were  as  great." 

He  continues — "It  was,  I  may  say,  a  mere  accident  that  either 
that  seminary  or  myself  has  had  any  share  in  educating  so  great 
and  useful  a  man.    In  the  summer  of  1784,  his  father  brought  him 

2 


30 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


to  New-York,  on  his  way  to  Princeton  College,  to  place  him  in  that 
seminary.  The  Legislature  had  passed  an  act  in  the  preceding 
winter,  for  restoring  and  new  naming  King's  College ;  afterwards 
to  be  a  University  by  the  name  of  Columbia.  But  no  final  arrange- 
ment or  appointments  had  been  made;  only  a  committee  was 
empowered  to  provide,  in  a  temporary  way,  for  what  might  be  most 
needful. 

"  The  late  Mr.  Duane,  then  Mayor  of  New-York,  was  one  of  this 
committee,  who  hearing  that  the  nephew  of  the  Governor  was 
going  out  of  the  state  for  his  education,  applied  to  me,  to  know  if  I 
would  undertake  the  care  of  him,  and  such  others  as  might  offer, 
until  the  appointments  for  the  college  could  be  made.  To  which  I 
readily  agreed,  and  young  Clinton,  with  half  a  dozen  more,  were 
put  under  my  tuition."  He  proceeds,  "  I  found  Mr.  Clinton  apt  to 
learn  any  thing  that  was  required  of  him.  He  was  clear  in  mathe- 
matics, and  correct  in  classical  knowledge.  He  did  every  thing  well : 
upon  the  whole,  he  seemed  likely  to  me  to  prove,  as  he  did  prove, 
a  highly  useful  and  practical  man ;  what  the  Romans  call  '  civilis,' 
and  the  Greeks  -roXimo?,  a  useful  citizen,  and  qualified  to  counsel 
and  direct  his  fellow-citizens  to  honour  and  happiness.  And  now, 
in  conclusion,  I  cannot  but  feel  self-gratulation  and  pride,  I  hope  a 
virtuous  one,  when  I  reflect  on  the  number  of  eminent  persons  that 
have  proceeded  from  the  very  cradle  of  Columbia  College.  Draw 
at  a  venture,"  continues  Dr.  Cochran,  "  from  the  old  and  illustrious 
seminaries  of  England  and  Ireland,  the  same  number  of  names  as 
we  had  on  our  books,  and  I  will  venture  to  affirm,  that  they  would 
not  be  superior  to  such  men  as  Governor  Clinton,  Chancellor 
Jones,  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  M.  Mason,  and  some  others." 

In  the  society,  formed  by  the  students  for  their  improvement  in 
composition  and  declamation,  called  the  Uranian  Society,  and 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


31 


among  whom  were  many  members  now  highly  distinguished  for 
their  abilities  and  professional  eminence,  Mr.  Clinton  held  a  pre- 
eminent station,  manifesting  at  that  early  age,  the  quickness  of 
perception,  the  close  inductive  reasoning,  the  ample  powers  of 
illustration,  and  talent  for  composition  and  extemporaneous  debate, 
that  characterised  him  through  life. 

He  commenced  the  study  of  law  in  1786,  under  the  late  Hon. 
Samuel  Jones,  Esq.  a  celebrated  counsellor,  the  father  of  the  present 
able  Chief  Justice  of  the  Superior  Court,  recently  instituted  in 
this  city.  By  that  profound  jurist,  Mr.  Clinton  was  taught  to  form 
a  becoming  estimate  of  his  intended  profession,  and  his  studies 
were  so  directed  and  pursued,  that  the  relation  of  pupil  and 
preceptor  resulted  in  a  friendship  which  was  interrupted  only  by 
death. 

He  ever  cherished  for  Mr.  Jones  the  warmest  filial  affection,  and 
was  accustomed  upon  all  occasions,  when  opportunity  presented, 
to  speak  of  him  in  terms  of  the  highest  respect,  considering  him  as 
the  father  and  ornament  of  the  New-York  bar.  During  the 
prosecution  of  his  legal  studies,  Mr.  Clinton,  with  a  view  to  his 
improvement,  attached  himself  to  a  society  of  gentlemen,  then 
engaged  in  the  study  of  the  Law  and  Belles-lettres,  which  was  well 
known  for  the  eloquence  and  abilities  of  its  numerous  members : 
in  this  institution  also,  Mr.  Clinton  held  a  prominent  place.  After 
the  customary  period  of  pupilage,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and 
commenced  the  practice  of  the  law  in  this  city,  and  with  a  great 
prospect  of  success  :  but  owing  to  the  peculiar  situation  of  political 
affairs  in  the  state  of  New-York,  his  talents  were  soon  put  in 
requisition  by  his  uncle  George  Clinton,  then  Governor  of  the  state, 
who  made  him  his  private  secretary;  which  station  he  retained 
during  Governor  Clinton's  administration,  which  ended  in  1795, 


3-2 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


when  he  declined  a  re-election.  It  may  be  added,  that.  Mr.  Clinton 
during  his  connexion  with  his  venerable  uncle,  was  also  honoured 
with  the  offices  of  secretary  to  the  Board  of  Regents  of  the 
University,  and  of  the  Board  of  Fortifications  of  New-York.  These 
events  may  be  considered  as  the  introduction  of  Mr.  Clinton  to 
public  and  political  life;  for  since  that  period,  he  has,  with  few 
intermissions,  been  unceasingly  devoted  to  the  service  of  the  state. 

Mr.  Clinton  at  this  time  entered  into  the  state  of  matrimony. 
He  was  first  married  to  Miss  Maria  Franklin,  the  eldest  daughter 
of  Walter  Franklin,  Esq.  an  eminent  and  wealthy  merchant  of  this 
city,  and  a  member  of  the  society  of  Friends. 

Mr.  Clinton,  by  this  marriage,  was  blessed  with  a  large  family  of 
children,  consisting  of  seven  sons  and  three  daughters;  of  these, 
four  sons  and  two  daughters  are  living. 

His  second  marriage,  which  took  place  in  1819,  was  to  Miss 
Catharine  Jones,  daughter  of  the  late  Dr.  Thomas  Jones,  an 
eminent  physician  of  this  city,  and  niece  of  the  late  Dr.  John  Jones, 
of  Philadelphia,  well  known  by  his  writings,  as  well  as  his  profes- 
sional services,  as  the  surgeon  general  during  the  revolutionary 
war,  and  one  of  the  favourite  physicians  of  General  Washington.* 

I  may  be  permitted,  without  the  violation  of  delicacy  or  propriety, 
to  observe,  that  Mrs.  Clinton  is  a  lady  of  excellent  education, 
accomplished  manners,  superior  talents  and  acquirements,  and  no 
less  qualified,  in  all  respects,  as  the  companion  of  her  late  distin- 
guished husband,  than  she  is  to  perform  the  duties  of  a  mother  to 
his  children,  to  whose  education  and  happiness  she  devotes  the 


*  See  Life  of  Dr.  Jones  by  Dr.  Mease.  Also  the  American  Medical  and  Philosophical 
Register,  Vol.  III.  and  Dr.  Thachers  American  Medical  Biography. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLTNTON. 


33 


most  tender  and  affectionate  care.  May  that  Almighty  Being,  who 
"tempers  the  wind  to  the  shorn  lamb,"  and  who  has  promised  to 
be  the  father  of  the  fatherless,  and  the  widow's  friend,  be  their  stay 
and  support  in  this  dark  hour  of  their  affliction ! 

Mr.  Clinton  at  an  early  period  of  his  life,  attached  himself  to  the 
ancient  fraternity  of  Free  Masons,  and,  many  years  since,  was 
advanced  to  its  highest  degrees,  and  has  filled  the  most  important 
offices  of  that  highly  respected  order.  In  1810,  he  was  unanimously 
elected  to  the  highest  masonic  office  in  the  United  States,  which 
he  retained  until  his  death.  His  long  continued  connexion  with 
that  institution,  which  spreads  its  benign  influence  throughout  the 
civilized  world,  which  enrols  among  its  members  the  illustrious 
names  of  Washington,  Warren,  La  Fayette,  Franklin,  Pinckney, 
Robert  R.  Livingston,  and  the  venerable  Chief  Justice  Marshall, 
including  many  of  the  most  highly  respected  dignitaries  of  the 
church,  as  well  as  the  clergy  of  different  denominations,  is  of  itself 
the  most  unequivocal  evidence  of  the  purity  of  the  principles,  the 
correct  morals,  and  the  religious  tendency  of  the  precepts  masonry 
inculcates.  But  like  Other  benevolent  and  pious  institutions,  it  has 
its  unworthy  as  well  as  its  meritorious  members.  Christianity  has 
its  Pharisees  as  well  as  its  sincere  worshippers.  Had  the  institution 
of  masonry  been  otherwise  than  the  means  of  diffusing  the  blessings 
of  beneficence,  and  of  that  charity,  that  best  of  virtues,  which  binds 
man  to  man,  it  never  would  have  received  the  uniform  support  of 
men  distinguished  for  their  intelligence,  integrity,  and  piety :  on  the 
contrary,  could  it  even  tacitly  have  sanctioned  any  departure  from 
the  strictest  rules  of  rectitude  or  honour,  it  long  since  would  have 
been  abandoned  by  the  virtuous  and  the  wise. 

In  the  year  1797,  Mr.  Clinton  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
House  of  Assembly,  for  the  city  of  New-York ;  and  in  the  succeed- 


34 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


ing  year  was  chosen  a  senator.  In  both  those  stations,  he  exhibited 
manifestations  of  those  enlarged  views  for  the  promotion  of 
literature  and  the  arts,  which  throughout  life  he  so  conspicuously 
displayed. 

Before  I  enter  upon  the  political  career  of  Mr.  Clinton,  it  may  be 
remarked,  that  he  not  only  received  an  excellent  elementary  and 
professional  education,  but  he  also  possessed  the  stores  of  an 
elegant  and  cultivated  mind.  He  was  one  of  those  few  active  and 
gifted  men,  who  unite  the  elevated  pursuits  of  science  and  letters, 
with  the  fullest  occupation  of  his  professional  and  public  duties ; 
and  it  may  be  added,  that  genius  and  application  were  so  well 
mingled  in  the  very  constitution  of  his  mind,  that  with  regard  to  the 
departments  of  science  to  which  he  attached  himself,  he  very  soon 
acquired  so  familiar  an  acquaintance  with  them,  as  to  lead  to  the 
belief  that  they  had  almost  been  the  exclusive  pursuit  of  his  life. 

In  the  knowledge  of  many  of  the  physical  sciences,  particularly 
zoology,  botany,  and  mineralogy,  Mr.  Clinton  eminently  excelled, 
especially  in  the  first  and  the  last  of  these  departments  of  natural 
history.  In  icthyology*  and  ornithology,!  his  knowledge  was 
minute. 

In  mineralogy,  including  geology,  few  persons  possessed  superior 
or  more  accurate  knowledge;  but  which  was  only  known  to  his 


*  See  Transactions  of  the  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society  of  New- York ;  and  Annals 
of  the  New-York  Lyceum  of  Natural  History.  His  description  of  a  new  species  of  fish, 
the  Salmo  Otsego,  the  Basse  of  the  Lakes,  and  his  paper  on  the  Columba  Migratoria,  or 
Passenger  Pigeon,  may  be  found  in  letters  addressed  to  Dr.  W.  Francis,  and  published  in 
the  New- York  Medical  and  Physical  Journal,  Vols.  I.  and  II. 

t  See  Review  of  Wilson's  Ornithology,  written  by  Mr.  Clinton,  in  the  American  Medi- 
cal and  Philosophical  Register,  conducted  by  Hosack  and  Francis. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


35 


immediate  scientific  friends.  His  collection  of  minerals,  many 
American  specimens  of  which  were  obtained  from  the  excavations 
made  in  the  progress  of  the  canal,  though  concealed  from  the 
public  eye,  is  one  of  the  best  and  most  extensive  private  cabinets 
in  the  United  States. 

In  botany,  he  was  intimately  acquainted  with  the  general  princi- 
ples of  the  Linnaean  system,  and  had  an  extensive  knowledge  of 
those  plants  which  are  most  useful,  and  are  employed  as  the  objects 
of  agriculture,  medicine,  and  the  arts ;  to  the  more  minute  details 
he  was  less  attentive,  than  to  the  great  general  principles  of  that 
science. 

I  perhaps  cannot  convey  a  higher  idea  of  Mr.  Clinton's  extensive 
attainments  in  these  departments  of  knowledge,  than  by  saying, 
that  I  knew  no  man  in  the  United  States,  so  well  qualified  to 
discharge  the  duties  appertaining  to  a  professorship  of  natural 
history  in  any  of  our  Universities,  as  was  Mr.  Clinton.  He  was  an 
active  member  of  most  of  the  scientific  and  benevolent  institutions 
of  this  city  and  state.  He  was  the  first  president,  and  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society,  the  highest 
station  which  philosophy  could  confer  upon  him  in  his  native  State ; 
and  upon  its  incorporation,  delivered  a  Discourse  exhibiting  a 
general  survey  of  the  progress  of  literature  and  science  in  our 
country,  and  comprising  a  body  of  illustrative  notes,  together  with 
many  original  observations  of  great  interest.  This  Discourse,  with 
other  valuable  communications  from  Mr.  Clinton,  is  contained  in 
the  first  volume,  and  in  the  first  part  of  the  second  volume  of  the 
Society's  Transactions.  Mr.  Clinton  was  also  one  of  the  early 
presidents  of  the  New-York  Historical  Society,  and  of  which  he 
was  one  of  the  original  members.  His  very  able  Anniversary 
Discourse  relative  to  the  Five  Nations,  is  contained  in  one  of  the 


36 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


volumes  of  the  Collections  of  that  institution,  and  is  one  of  the  best 
efforts  of  his  mind  and  pen.  He  was  also  the  author  of  the 
able  and  eloquent  memorial  to  the  legislature,  asking  a  grant  from 
the  state,  which  was  obtained  for  that  society  to  the  amount  of 
12,000  dollars.  An  additional  grant  of  %  5,000  has  also  recently- 
been  made,  which  is  in  part  attributable  to  his  exertions  and  influ- 
ence, and  by  which  that  society  has  been  enabled  to  preserve  to 
the  state  and  county,  its  invaluable  historical  treasures,  and,  doubt- 
less, ere  long  will  realize  the  important  views  of  its  first  formation, 
and  all  the  expectations  of  its  friends.* 

Mr.  Clinton  was  also  a  member  of  the  Academy  of  Arts,  and 
evinced  his  favourable  views  of  that  subject,  and  his  ardour  in 
promoting  its  interests,  in  an  excellent  discourse  which  he  delivered 
to  that  institution.  He  was  a  member  of  most  of  the  literary  and 
philosophical  societies  of  Philadelphia,  Massachusetts,  Connecticut, 
Charleston,  and  New-York. 

He  was  also  many  years  a  Regent  of  the  University,  not  only 
holding  that  station  officially  as  the  Governor  of  the  state,  but 
previously  elected  as  a  tribute  to  his  talents  and  learning. 

In  1812,  Mr.  Clinton  received  from  Queens,  now  Rutgers  College, 
of  New-Jersey,  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws :  the  same 
honour  was  conferred  upon  him  in  1824,  by  the  trustees  of  his 
alma  mater,  Columbia  College. 

But  his  reputation  was  not  confined  to  the  country  he  immedi- 
ately benefited  by  his  services.  In  the  literary  circles,  and  in  the 
scientific  institutions  of  Europe,  his  name  was  familiarly  known  as 
among  the  most  eminent  men  of  his  day.    It  is  an  evidence  of  the 


See  Appendix,  B. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


37 


high  estimation  in  which  he  was  held,  that  he  was  elected  an 
honorary  member  of  many  of  the  learned  societies  of  Great  Britain, 
and  of  the  continent  of  Europe,  and  that  he  held  an  extensive 
correspondence  with  some  of  the  most  distinguished  men  of  the 
age.  He  was  an  honorary  member  of  the  Linnaean  and  the 
Horticultural  Societies  of  London,  and  of  the  Wernerian  Society 
of  Edinburgh,  and  was  in  habits  of  correspondence  with  the  late 
Sir  James  Edward  Smith,  the  learned  president  of  the  first,  and 
with  Mr.  Knight,  and  Mr.  J.  Sabine,  the  able  officers  of  the  Horti- 
cultural institution.* 

The  acknowledged  reputation  which  Mr.  Clinton  attained  in  his 
literary  character,  when  we  take  into  view  his  extensive  public 
services,  is  to  be  ascribed,  not  only  to  his  native  taste  and  ardent 
love  of  knowledge,  but  to  the  extraordinary  industry  and  order 
with  which  he  performed  his  numerous  and  various  duties.  At  a 
very  early  period  of  his  life,  he  acquired  and  cultivated  habits  of 
great  industry :  he  rose  at  an  early  hour  at  all  seasons  of  the  year. 
He  observed  the  utmost  punctuality  in  all  his  engagements;  this 
too  he  was  the  better  enabled  to  accomplish,  by  means  of  the 
order  and  regularity  with  which  he  divided  the  several  duties  of 
the  day;  illustrating  by  example,  that  well  known  truth,  that  he 
who  has  the  most  numerous  avocations,  is  the  most  attentive  and 
the  most  punctual  in  the  performance  of  all:  every  hour  not 
occupied  by  his  numerous  public  duties,  was  devoted  to  general 
literature.  History,  poetry,  taste,  belles  lettres,  metaphysics, 
natural  history,  theology,  all  in  turn  occupied  those  portions  of  his 
time,  not  devoted  to  public  business,  or  the  duties  of  the  various 


*  Sec  Appendix,  C. 

3 


38 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


stations  he  filled :  and  he  studiously  noted  with  his  pen,  every  fact 
or  principle  that  he  deemed  important,  or  that  might  be  rendered 
subservient  to  his  intellectual  improvement,  or  to  the  profit  of 
others :  by  this  habit,  of  collecting  in  his  common-place  book 
what  he  considered  of  value,  he  was  enabled  to  concentrate  the 
ample  stores  of  his  knowledge  upon  the  various  subjects  which 
occupied  his  more  immediate  pursuit :  even  those  smaller  portions 
of  the  day  that  are  lost  by  most  men,  were  not  unemployed  by  him : 
like  the  goldsmith,  who  carefully  accumulates  the  smaller  particles 
that  drop  beneath  his  hand,  and  which  collected,  constitute  the 
ingot ;  Mr.  Clinton,  in  like  manner  carefully  treasured  up  the 
minutest  fragments  of  time,  which  though  inconsiderable  in  them- 
selves, compose  an  aggregate  of  great  value.  Accordingly,  when 
released  from  the  severer  duties  which  engaged  his  attention,  a 
volume  of  the  classics,  some  work  of  science,  or  some  of  the  later 
productions  of  a  Scott,  a  Campbell,  a  Southey,  or  a  Byron,  whose 
writings  have  shed  an  unusual  splendour  upon  the  age  that  gave 
them  birth,  occupied  those  moments  of  relaxation :  and  I  may 
add,  that  he  had  a  large  and  well  selected  library  of  scarce  and 
valuable  works,  which  continually  urged  him  to  augment  those 
sources  of  knowledge  and  enjoyment. 

The  ordinary  and  more  frivolous  amusements  of  fashionable 
life  presented  no  attractions  to  his  mind;  on  the  contrary,  they 
were  by  him,  I  believe  through  life,  most  studiously  avoided,  as 
not  only  involving  the  loss  of  time,  money,  and  reputation,  but 
utterly  incompatible  with  those  pursuits  and  views  that  belong  to  a 
man  who  has  at  heart  his  dignity  of  character,  the  higher  interests 
of  science,  or  his  country's  welfare. 

This  leads  me  to  notice  the  merits  of  Mr.  Clinton  as  a  writer 
and  speaker.    Mr.  Clinton,  as  a  public  speaker,  was  slow  and 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON 


39 


deliberate  in  his  manner,  manifesting  the  constant  exercise  of  his 
understanding  while  in  the  act  of  delivery :  he  also  observed  great 
order  in  the  plan  of  his  discourse,  arranging  his  arguments  with 
precision,  and  with  the  view  of  giving  to  each  its  appropriate  place 
and  effect,  exhibiting  thereby  much  previous  and  careful  conside- 
ration of  his  subject ;  yet  such  was  the  quickness  of  his  perception 
and  power  of  analysis,  that  he  did  not  require  long  preparatory 
deliberation  to  embrace  a  full  view  of  the  merits  of  the  question 
which  came  before  him. 

The  language  in  which  he  was  to  convey  his  sentiments,  the 
illustration  with  which  they  were  to  be  enforced,  and  the  ornament 
with  which  his  discourse  was  to  be  embellished,  cost  him  little 
or  no  exertion  in  the  preparation ;  for  such  was  his  constant  habit 
of  reading  the  best  writings  of  the  standard  English  classics  and 
historians,  as  well  as  the  most  esteemed  of  the  periodical  pub- 
lications upon  the  different  branches  of  human  knowledge,  and 
other  valuable  writings  of  the  present  time,  an  age  teeming  with 
instruction,  and  unprecedented  in  beauty  and  simplicity  of  style, 
that  those  aids  to  eloquence  were  ever  present  to  his  mind, 
requiring  no  effort  to  summon  them  to  his  purpose  :  the  same 
observation  is  no  less  applicahlp  to  his  written  discourses,  than 
to  those  which  were  delivered  extemporaneously,  for  such  was 
his  facility  and  rapidity  in  composition,  derived  from  long  practice, 
the  moment  he  had  analysed  and  elaborated  the  subject  in  his 
mind,  it  only  required  the  time  necessary  for  the  mechanical  trans- 
cription of  it,  to  prepare  his  discourse  for  publication.  It  is  a  fact 
falling  within  my  own  personal  knowledge,  that  one  of  his  most 
elaborate  messages  to  the  legislature,  and  which  were  among  his 
most  finished  and  the  most  admired  of  his  compositions,  was 
written  in  the  short  space  of  twenty-four  hours. 


10 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WTTT  CLINTON. 


His  daily  practice,  and  which  during  the  greater  part  of  his  life 
he  had  pursued,  of  recording  important  facts  and  occurrences, 
which  may  have  had  relation  to  the  various  subjects  which  fell 
within  his  province  as  a  statesman,  a  philosopher,  or  a  polite 
scholar,  ever  supplied  him  with  the  most  abundant  means  of 
illustrating  the  immediate  subject  of  his  investigation.  For  like 
Boyle,  Locke,  Gibbon,  Edwards,  Priestley,  and  Franklin,  he 
always  read  with  his  pencil  in  his  hand;  accordingly,  it  will  be 
found  that  every  page  which  Mr.  Clinton  has  written  or  published, 
displays  the  valuable  fruits  of  the  labour  which  in  this  way  he  has 
undergone. 

Upon  whatever  subject  his  talents  were  put  in  requisition,  and 
no  man  was  more  frequently  called  upon  for  the  performance  of 
public  service,  owing  to  this  daily  use  of  the  common  place  book, 
he  ever  astonished  his  friends  by  the  sudden  and  unexpected,  as 
well  as  the  able  discharge  of  any  duty  he  may  have  had  occasion 
to  perform.  In  like  manner,  such  were  the  ample  stores  of  his 
mind,  that  when  an  extemporaneous  expression  of  his  views  or 
opinions  was  demanded,  whether  upon  the  seat  of  justice,  the 
floor  of  the  senate,  or  upon  any  other  public,  occasion,  at  the 
shortest  notice  he  could  summon  to  his  purpose  all  the  resources 
of  his  highly  gifted  and  cultivated  understanding ;  with  these  at 
his  command,  it  may  be  added,  Mr.  Clinton  was  enabled  to  give 
full  force  to  the  discussion  in  which  he  was  engaged,  and  to  avail 
himself  of  the  peculiar  advantage  it  afforded  him  of  directing  his 
attention  to,  and  of  observing  the  effects  of  his  argument  upon, 
every  individual  of  the  body  he  addressed.  Such  too  was  his 
perception  of  the  effect  produced  upon  his  auditory,  that  I  have 
often  heard  him  say,  that  when  speaking  in  the  senate,  or 
other  deliberative  assemblies,  he  could  decide  at  the  moment 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


II 


the  probable  result  of  his  address,  and  at  once  ascertain,  how  far 
it  was  safe  to  urge  the  question  immediately  to  a  decision,  or  to 
suggest  the  expediency  of  deferring  such  decision  to  a  more 
distant  day,  when  he  could  have  the  opportunity  of  adding  to  the 
friends  of  the  measure  he  wished  to  accomplish. 

I  am  aware,  that  by  many  persons,  Mr.  Clinton,  in  consequence 
of  the  calmness  and  uniformity  of  his  manner,  and  perhaps  a  degree 
of  monotony  in  his  enunciation,  in  both  of  which  his  delivery 
closely  resembled  that  of  the  late  Mr.  Pitt,  was  not  considered 
an  eloquent  speaker.  It  is  to  be  observed,  that  he  so  exclusively 
addressed  himself  to  the  understanding  of  his  hearers,  that  he 
gave  less  attention  to  the  manner  of  bis  communication  than  is 
customary  with  most  public  speakers.  He  never  indulged  in  rant 
or  vehemence,  either  in  voice  or  gesture,  yet  his  clear  and  logical 
method  and  arrangement,  the  force  and  perspicuity  of  style,  and 
dignity  of  manner,  his  strong  and  manly  tone  of  voice,  united  with 
his  undaunted  firmness,  gave  to  his  discourse,  whether  in  the 
judgment  seat  or  in  the  hall  of  legislation,  an  influence  and  effect, 
which  no  other  individual,  except  the  lamented  Hamilton,  Wells, 
and  Emmet,  has  ever  exercised  in  our  state.  As  far  as  inductive 
reasoning,  happy  illustration,  strong  and  vigorous  language,  a 
style  always  dignified,  and  oftentimes  highly  ornamented,  can  be 
considered  as  constituting  eloquence,  and  are  calculated  to  arrest 
the  attention,  and  to  carry  conviction  to  his  auditory,  Mr.  Clinton 
is  entitled  to  the  denomination  of  an  eloquent  speaker. 

In  1797,  as  I  before  remarked,  Mr.  Clinton  was  first  elected 
a  member  of  Assembly  for  the  city  of  New-York :  political  con- 
sideration was,  at  that  early  day,  his  dominant  motive  of  action, 
and  the  times  were  becoming  more  and  more  favourable  to  the 
developement  of  his  powers  as  a  politician.    The  germs  of  the 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


two  great  parties,  which  have  since  divided  the  country,  and  this 
state  in  particular,  were  about  this  period  exhibiting  themselves. 
His  uncle,  George  Clinton,  was  at  that  time  assailed  by  the  first 
talents  of  the  state.  His  nephew,  relinquishing  all  other  con- 
siderations, immediately  embarked  in  the  vindication  of  the  conduct 
and  principles  of  his  revered  relative;  and  from  that  period, 
devoted  his  pen  and  his  faculties  to  the  support  of  the  republican 
party. 

I  am  aware  that  the  political  character  of  Mr.  Clinton,  mingling 
as  it  does  with  the  excitements  of  the  day,  is  a  delicate  topic 
to  be  discussed,  especially  by  one  who  has  never  departed  from 
his  professional  duties,  to  enlist  under  the  banner  of  any  political 
sect,  save  that  which  framed  and  still  sustains  our  happy  con- 
stitution of  government.  But  to  omit  in  the  outline  which  is  now 
attempted,  what  was  so  prominent  in  his  life,  would  be  to  render 
this  portraiture  manifestly  defective.  As  he  is  no  longer  capable 
of  doing  good  or  evil,  of  exciting  suspicion  or  envy  on  the  one 
hand,  or  adulation  on  the  other,  it  is  hoped  that  without  disturbing 
those  ashes  which  are  yet  scarcely  cold,  we  may  calmly  survey 
the  distinguishing  traits,  which,  amid  the  alternate  revolutions  of 
parties,  fixed  upon  him  the  admiration,  and  confirmed  the  confi- 
dence of  his  fellow-citizens. 

"  Id  cinerem,  aut  manes  credis  curare  sepultos  ?" — Virgil.  JEneid.  iv.  34. 

Born  and  nurtured  among  the  whigs  of  the  revolution,  imbibing 
daily  from  the  counsels  of  a  patriot  father  and  uncle  the  cardinal 
principles  of  liberty,  and  learning  from  their  great  examples  the 
practical  application  of  those  principles,  Mr.  Clinton  could  not 
be  otherwise  than  an  ardent  and  devoted  republican.  The  occa- 
sion does  not  call  for  a  full  recital  of  those  eventful  epochs  in  our 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


13 


history,  in  which  his  devotion  was  so  conspicuously  and  effectually 
manifested.  His  adversaries  felt,  while  his  friends  gloried  in  the 
power  of  his  efforts.  •  But  it  is  our  duty  to  look  beyond  the  mere 
partisan  conflicts  of  the  day,  and  to  observe  those  great  and 
prominent  traits,  the  memory  of  which  will  endure  when  the  angry 
passions  which  they  excited  shall  have  subsided,  and  the  occasions 
on  which  they  were  exhibited  shall  be  utterly  forgotten.  In  all 
the  public  acts  and  documents  which  owe  their  existence  to  Mr. 
Clinton's  prolific  and  vigorous  pen,  there  is  apparent  throughout 
a  deep  and  confirmed  veneration  of  the  principles  and  forms  of 
our  free  institutions ;  a  living  faith  in  man's  capacity  for  self- 
government,  and  an  unconquerable  hostility  to  arbitrary  and 
illegal  power  in  whatever  shape  it  might  appear.  Upon  the  most 
rigid  scrutiny  of  his  productions,  not  a  line  or  word  will  be  found 
to  justify  a  resort  to  implied  authority  from  ambiguous  phra- 
seology, or  to  the  tyrant's  "  plea  of  necessity,"  for  a  latitude  of 
construction  in  ascertaining  the  extent  of  limited  grants  of  power. 
On  the  contrary,  as  a  Senator,  as  a  Judge,  and  as  a  Governor  of 
the  state,  he  constantly  repressed  the  claims  of  power,  steadily 
resisted  the  encroachments  of  the  different  branches  of  the  govern- 
ment upon  the  province  of  each  other,  and  firmly,  at  much  hazard, 
vindicated  the  sovereignty  of  the  state,  and  the  individual  rights 
of  the  citizen.  These,  it  is  true,  are  political  principles  of  conduct 
recognised  by  the  great  body  of  our  fellow-citizens,  but  are  apt 
to  be  forgotten  by  our  public  men  when  elevated  to  office.  In  this 
respect  Mr.  Clinton  was  at  all  times  consistent.  The  lessons 
which  he  inculcated  as  a  private  citizen,  he  practised  when  in 
power.  Upon  the  whole,  he  exhibited  in  his  conduct  the  example 
of  a  stern  and  inflexible  republican,  in  the  large  and  catholic  sense 
of  the  term,  worthy  of  the  purest  period  of  Grecian  or  Roman 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


History,  and  to  which,  at  this  day,  parallels  can  be  found  on  no 
spot  of  the  habitable  globe,  but  in  our  own  happy  country. 

Mr.  Clinton's  qualifications  as  a  writer  arid  public  speaker,  in 
a  peculiar  manner  fitted  him  for  the  new  walk  of  life  in  which 
he  had  embarked.  At  an  early  period  of  his  political  career, 
about  1800,  difficulties  occurred  between  Governor  Jay  and  the 
council  of  appointment,  since  so  conspicuous  in  the  political 
history  of  the  state.  These  difficulties  were  settled  by  a  con- 
vention that  met  at  Albany  in  1801,  when  a  modification  of  the 
constitution  was  effected,  in  favour  of  the  views  which  Mr.  Clinton 
had  maintained.  Although  it  may  be  doubtful  whether  the  con- 
stitution of  the  state  was  improved  by  this  decision,  the  opinion 
of  the  most  eminent  statesmen  of  that  day,  of  both  political  parties, 
concurred  in  favour  of  its  correctness,  according  to  the  letter  of 
the  constitution.  The  late  illustrious  Hamilton,  in  one  of  his 
letters  in  the  Federalist,  and  before  the  ambiguity  had  been 
attended  with  any  practical  evils,  supports  the  views  of  those, 
who  denied  to  the  Governor  that  exclusive  power  which  was 
afterwards  only  granted  to  him  in  common  with  the  other  members 
composing  the  council  of  appointment.* 

That  memorable  controversy  between  Governor  Jay  and  the ' 
council  of  appointment,  was  supported  on  the  part  of  the  latter 
by  Mr.  Clinton,  then  one  of  the  members  of  that  council.  Since 
that  period,  he  was  repeatedly  re-elected  a  senator,  and  in  that 
situation  he  defended  with  effect,  every  proposition  that  came 
before  the  legislature,  calculated  to  subserve  the  interests  of 
science  or  benevolence. 


See  The  Federalist. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


05 


In  1801,  Mr.  Clinton  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States,  in  the  place  of  General  Armstrong,  who  had 
resigned,  and  continued  in  that  station  two  sessions. 

Among  the  eminent  men  of  that  august  body,  at  that  eventful 
period  in  our  national  councils,  were  General  Mason  of  Virginia, 
Judge  Brackenridge  of  Kentucky,  James  Ross  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  his  able  and  eloquent  colleague,  Gouverncur  Morris  of  New- 
York. 

The  journals  and  records  of  the  Senate,  as  will  hereafter 
appear,  show  him  to  have  been  equal  to  any  of  his  compeers. 
As  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature,  the  journals  of  both 
houses  may  be  consulted  for  the  proofs  of  his  many  eminent 
public  services.  Education  was  cherished  and  sustained  by  addi- 
tional acts  for  the  incorporation  of  free  schools  and  literary  and 
benevolent  societies,  besides  numerous  acts  for  the  improvement 
of  police  jurisprudence.  He  gave  his  powerful  aid  to  the  mea- 
sures which  have  gradually  led  to  the  abolition  among  us  of  negro 
slavery;  and  although  foreign  nations  may  object,  that  a  people 
the  most  boastful  of  their  liberties,  could  ever  tolerate  within  their 
own  bosom  the  most  indubitable  species  of  slavery,  yet  the  state 
of  New-York  at  least,  may  claim  exemption  from  all  participation 
in  the  guilt  attached  to  this  odious  commerce.  During  this  period 
of  Mr.  Clinton's  public  life,  we  find  that  the  militia  system, 
improved  quarantine  regulations,  and  laws  for  the  advancement  of 
medical  science,  were  of  the  number  of  subjects  which  occupied 
his  attention.  It  is  believed  that  the  quarantine  system  of  New- 
York  is  not  only  more  complete,  but  executed  with  more  strictness 
than  any  other  in  our  country.  It  has  not  at  all  times  secured 
us  from  foreign  pestilence;  but  the  greater  exemption  of  our 
city  from  that  scourge  of  the  human  species,  the  yellow  fever,  is* 


10 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


in  all  probability,  fairly  to  be  referred  to  the  wisdom  of  our  laws, 
and  the  vigilance  of  their  ministers.  Let  me  add,  that  Mr. 
Clinton,  yielding  his  faith  to  the  doctrine  of  contagion,  as  taught 
and  sustained  by  the  highest  authorities  in  medical  philosophy, 
was  the  most  strenuous  advocate  of  the  most  vigorous  system 
of  quarantine  regulations.  The  militia  system,  so  justly  deemed  by 
the  late  President  John  Adams,  a  vital  and  characteristic  feature 
of  our  republican  policy,  was  reviewed  by  the  masterly  mind  of 
Mr.  Clinton,  and  underwent  many  important  alterations.  It  has 
not  yet  received  the  benefits  of  which  I  trust  it  is  susceptible; 
but  the  suggestions  of  his  experience  may  enable  future  legisla- 
tures to  give  to  it  still  further  efficiency  and  power.  By  the 
neglect  or  inadvertence  of  our  inspectors,  the  various  productions 
of  our  state,  though  not  inferior  to  those  of  any  other  portion 
of  our  country,  were  depreciated  in  character  and  value.  One 
of  the  earliest  measures  proposed  by  Mr.  Clinton  was,  to  correct 
a  practice  by  which  much  wealth  was  annually  lost  to  the  state. 
Our  commerce,  as  well  as  our  agriculture  have,  by  his  measures, 
experienced  the  most  beneficial  results.  The  honour  of  the 
munificent  appropriation  made  to  our  various  seminaries  of 
learning,  must  be  shared  by  him  with  others;  but  it  would 
be  unjust  in  me,  a  member  of  the  medical  profession,  not  to 
acknowledge  the  debt  of  obligation  which  is  due  to  his  efficient 
agency  in  procuring  those  various  appropriations  in  behalf  of 
the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  by  which  an  institution, 
humble  and  unpretending  in  its  commencement,  might  have  been 
enabled  in  a  few  years,  to  have  held  honourable  competition  with 
the  oldest  and  most  powerful  medical  schools  in  the  country. 

By  his  exertions  the  New-York  Orphan  Asylum  was  recom- 
mended to  the  patronage  of  the  state.    That  excellent  charity 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


17 


now  rescues  thousands  of  human  beings  from  vice  and  misery, 
whom  Providence  has  deprived  of  their  natural  protectors,  and 
trains  them  up  in  the  paths  of  virtue  and  usefulness.  Among  the 
most  conspicuous  of  the  associations  for  the  advancement  of 
knowledge,  was  the  act  for  the  incorporation  of  the  New-York 
Historical  Society. 

By  the  violence  of  party,  we  find  Mr.  Clinton  a  private 
citizen  during  a  part  of  the  year  1815,  in  1816,  and  in  1817. 
But  he  did  not  remit  in  his  exertions  for  the  public  weal ;  his 
whole  leisure  was  absorbed  in  the  cultivation  of  letters,  and  in 
measures  for  the  augmentation  of  the  happiness  of  his  fellow-men. 
The  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society  of  New-York,  of  which 
he  also  was  one  of  the  original  members,  had  been  incorporated 
in  1814.  By  its  charter  he  was  appointed  the  President,  and  to 
which  station  he  was  annually  re-elected  until  his  death :  the 
choice  of  Mr.  Clinton  evinced  the  discernment  of  its  members. 
His  efforts  to  promote  the  objects  of  this  excellent  association 
were  incessant.  His  elaborate  Inaugural  Discourse  delivered  before 
its  members,  has  been  extensively  circulated  in  Europe,  as  well 
as  in  the  United  States.  Besides  this  production,  he  drew  up  a 
series  of  queries,  intended  to  secure  statistical  information  from 
the  various  counties  of  the  state,  to  be  embodied  in  their  trans- 
actions, and  particularly  Memoirs  on  certain  phenomena  of  the 
great  lakes  of  America,  and  on  the  antiquities  of  the  western  parts 
of  the  state.  The  New-York  City  Hospital  was  also  one  of  the 
monuments  of  his  philanthropy  and  public  spirit,  for  the  endow- 
ment of  which  he  was  happily  instrumental  in  obtaining  several 
legislative  grants.  By  his  exertions  and  influence,  connected  with 
those  of  his  able  associate  in  deeds  of  benevolence,  the  late 


is 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


Thomas  Eddy,  several  large  sums  were  procured  at  different  times 
for  that  highly  necessary  and  useful  institution. 

The  last  amount  obtained  was  %  10,000  per  annum,  for  forty 
years,  out  of  which  the  Governors  have  been  enabled  to  establish 
and  erect  an  institution,  calculated  to  alleviate  the  ills  of  that 
unfortunate  portion  of  our  species,  whom  Providence  has  visited 
with  its  greatest  calamity,  in  the  bereavement  of  their  intellectual 
faculties.  This  asylum  for  maniacs,  in  the  numerous  comforts 
and  accommodations  it  affords  to  the  objects  of  its  care,  may 
justly  be  considered  as  one  of  the  best  institutions  of  this  nature, 
not  only  in  the  United  States,  but  perhaps  in  the  world;  not 
excepting  those  of  the  Retreat  at  York,  or  that  of  Aversa,  near 
Naples.  To  Thomas  Eddy  and  De  Witt  Clinton  many  of  our 
public  establishments,  and  the  New- York  Hospital  in  particular, 
owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  that  can  never  be  cancelled.* 

Mr.  Clinton  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  fund  for  public 
schools  in  this  state,  now  the  largest  and  most  munificent  in  the 
union,  amounting  to  a  sum  exceeding  $  200,000  per  annum,  and 
effecting  more  important  services  in  promoting  education  and 
virtue,  than  any  other  institution  in  our  land.  This  establishment 
of  a  fund  for  the  diffusion  of  education  by  means  of  common 
schools,  the  example  of  which  was  originally  commenced  in  Con- 
necticut by  the  late  Gideon  Grainger,  Esq.  and  which  in  this  state 
has  been  ably  sustained  by  Mr.  Clinton,  and  by  the  late  Jedediah 
Peck,  a  member  of  the  senate,  constitutes  an  era  in  the  history  of 
knowledge,  and  one  of  the  greatest  blessings  our  country,  and  this 


*  See  Appendix,  D. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


1!) 


state  in  particular,  have  received.  Like  the  more  recent  insti- 
tution established,  and  the  publications  commenced,  under  the 
auspices  of  Mr.  Brougham,  and  his  associates  in  the  cause  of 
science  and  letters,  it  is  the  means  of  diffusing  knowledge  through- 
out every  section  of  the  republic,  and  may  be  considered  among 
the  most  important  events  of  the  age  in  which  we  live.  With  the 
view  still  further  of  securing  the  benefits  that  had  been  originally 
contemplated  by  the  establishment  of  such  fund,  Mr.  Clinton  wisely 
suggested  that  competent  and  intelligent  young  men  should  be 
specially  educated  as  teachers  in  all  those  several  schools,  and 
that  appropriations  for  this  purpose  be  made  by  the  common 
schools,  out  of  their  portion  of  the  general  fund.* 

Mr.  Clinton  was  also  one  of  the  original  members  and  founders 
of  the  Free  School  Societies,!  of  the  Presbyterian  Society  for 
promoting  the  education  of  youth  as  preparatory  to  the  ministry;! 
he  was  also  the  patron  of  the  institution  recently  established  for 
supporting  Infant  Schools.§  Indeed  his  efforts  to  extend  the 
benefits  of  education  to  the  poor  and  friendless,  as  they  will  be 
enjoyed  by  the  rising  generation,  will  be  hailed  by  future  ages  as 
an  era  in  this  state,  and  constitute  an  unfading  title  to  the  renown 
of  Mr.  Clinton. 

Of  that  great  improvement  arising  from  the  monitorial  system 
of  instruction  introduced  by  the  philanthropic  Lancaster,  he  early 
perceived  the  advantages,  and  determined  that  by  his  industry  the 
state  should  profit. 

In  1803,  Mr.  Clinton  was  appointed  mayor  of  the  city  of  New- 


*  See  Appendix,  E. 
f  See  Appendix,  F. 


I  Sec  Appendix,  G. 
}  See  Appendix,  H. 


50 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


York,  which  station  he  held  until  the  spring  of  1807,  when  he 
was  succeeded,  for  a  short  time,  by  Colonel  Marinus  Willett, 
the  venerable  soldier  of  the  revolution,  and  who,  nearly  half  a 
century  before,  had  gathered  imperishable  laurels  at  Fort  Stanwix. 

Mr.  Clinton  was  re-appointed  mayor  in  1808,  and  with  the 
exception  of  one  year,  in  consequence  of  a  change  in  party  politics, 
when  he  was  superseded  by  Judge  RadclifTe,  he  retained  that 
office,  by  annual  appointment,  until  1815. 

In  the  discharge  of  the  duties  attached  to  the  mayoralty, 
whether  presiding  at  the  common  council  board  superintending 
the  general  interests  of  the  city,  as  the  President  of  the  board  of 
health,  or  officiating  in  the  character  of  a  Judge  on  the  bench, 
Mr.  Clinton  acquired  the  confidence,  the  respect,  and  the  grati- 
tude, of  all  classes  of  citizens,  uninfluenced  by  the  various  party 
feelings  that  then  distracted  our  community. 

As  the  presiding  officer  of  the  common  council,  the  dignity,  the 
ability,  and  the  despatch,  with  which  he  performed  the  duties  of 
that  responsible  office,  were  always  the  theme  of  eulogy ;  and  to 
the  municipal  concerns  of  the  city  he  paid  a  devoted  and  unre- 
mitted attention. 

In  1808,  Mr.  Clinton  was  instrumental  in  obtaining  from  the 
state  legislature  the  appropriation  of  %  100,000  for  the  fortification 
of  the  city  of  New-York.  He  was  the  President  of  the  Board 
of  Commissioners,  appointed  to  superintend  the  accomplishment 
of  those  important  works  on  Staten-Island,  and  other  places  in 
its  vicinity,  for  the  defence  of  this  city. 

But  it  was  in  the  period  of  the  late  war  with  Great  Britain  that 
the  virtues  of  his  character  were  more  especially  exhibited.  His 
patriotism,  his  unshaken  firmness  in  supporting  the  laws  and  in 
preserving  the  peace  of  the  community,  were  then  most  con- 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


51 


spicuous,  and  will  be  recalled  to  mind  by  most  of  this  assembly 
with  pleasure  and  with  gratitude. 

The  state  of*  Avar  in  every  country  produces  a  set  of  men  who, 
under  the  pretext  of  patriotism  and  of  public  good,  excite  to  acts 
of  riot  and  disorder,  which  they  turn  to  the  gratification  of  private 
resentment,  or  their  own  private  emoluments.  Disgraceful  scenes 
of  lawless  violence  and  of  bloodshed  had  occurred  in  a  neigh- 
bouring city,  and  gave  fearful  omen  of  what  might  here  be 
expected,  unless  restrained  by  the  strong  arm  of  the  law.  Mr. 
Clinton's  intelligent  mind  foresaw  the  crisis,  and  his  correct  and 
intrepid  spirit  was  prepared  to  meet  it. 

In  an  address  to  the  grand  jury,  he  alluded  to  the  riotous  scenes 
of  Baltimore,  and  with  the  view  to  prevent  a  repetition  of  the 
same  in  the  city  of  New-York,  he  digested  and  prepared  a  system 
of  police  regulations,  for  the  preservation  of  the  peace  of  the  city, 
which  was  adopted  by  the  common  council.  The  result  is  well 
known;  our  city  remained  tranquil  and  undisturbed  by  tumult 
of  any  sort.  The  character  of  Mr.  Clinton  for  energy  and  decision, 
was  an  assurance  to  the  community,  that  these  regulations  would 
not  remain  a  dead  letter,  but  be  faithfully  and  promptly  executed. 
His  well  known  firmness  gave  tranquillity  to  our  city ;  the  vicious 
were  awed;  the  virtuous  under  his  auspices  felt  additional  con- 
fidence. 

Another  instance  of  Mr.  Clinton's  pure  devotion  to  the  interests 
of  his  country  deserves  to  be  recorded.  Upon  the  declaration 
of  war  by  the  United  States  against  Great  Britain,  it  was  well 
known  that  this  important  metropolis  would  be  one  of  the  first 
objects  of  attack  by  the  enemy.  The  immense  wealth  of  this 
city  would  awaken  attention,  and  its  importance  as  a  military 
station  pointed  out  its  possession  as  of  the  greatest  moment. 


.r)2 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


But  the  declaration  of  war  found  us  wholly  unprepared :  the  em- 
barrassed situation  of  the  finances  of  the  United  States  is  still 
remembered.  The  treasury  was  empty,  and  its  credit,  at  that 
time,  impaired.  It  was  soon  perceived,  that  if  our  city  was  to 
be  defended,  the  funds  for  that  purpose  must  be  provided  by 
ourselves.  At  this  crisis,  Mr.  Clinton  suggested  to  the  common 
council  to  borrow  the  necessary  funds  on  the  credit  of  this  city, 
and  to  loan  the  same  to  the  United  States.  The  plan  was  approved. 
An  impressive  address,  drafted  by  Mr.  Clinton,  was  made  to  our 
citizens,  and  a  million  of  dollars  raised,  by  subscription,  for  our 
defence. 

Throughout  the  progress  of  the  war,  Mr.  Clinton  constantly 
associated  himself  with  the  committee  of  defence  appointed  by 
the  corporation,  and  lent  his  powerful  influence  to  the  various 
measures  which  were  then  proposed. 

When  it  is  considered  that  Mr.  Clinton's  political  advancement 
was  then  in  opposition  to  the  existing  administration,  and  when 
it  might  have  been  expected  that  a  political  rival  would  have 
been  pleased  with  this  opportunity  of  rendering  them  unpopular 
with  the  people,  it  certainly  redounds  to  his  honour  and  patriotism, 
that  he  gave  his  undivided  exertions  towards  carrying  on  the  war 
to  a  successful  issue. 

His  patriotism  was  also  evinced  in  the  tender  of  his  services 
in  his  military  character  during  the  late  war.  At  this  moment 
of  danger,  having  held  the  station  of  Major-general  in  the  militia 
of  the  state,  he  considered  it  his  paramount  duty  to  offer  to  the 
Commander-in-chief  his  personal  services  for  active  operation 
in  the  field.  These  were  preferred  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the 
late  Governor  Tompkins,  by  their  mutual  friend,  Thomas  Addis 
Emmet. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


53 


It  ought  to  be  remarked,  as  an  evidence  of  his  high  sense  of 
duty,  and  his  disregard  of  personal  danger,  that  during  the 
visitations  of  the  pestilence,  of  the  peculiar  character  and  con- 
tagiousness of  which  Mr.  Clinton  had  the  fullest  conviction, 
while  officiating  as  the  chief  magistrate  of  the  city,  he  was  ever 
present  at  the  deliberations  of  the  common  council,  and  rendered 
his  daily  attendance  in  the  city  at  the  board  of  health,  of  which 
he  was  the  presiding  officer. 

As  a  criminal  judge,  it  is  admitted  even  by  those  who  had  been 
his  political  opponents,  that  his  vigilance,  his  able  and  impartial 
performance  of  his  official  duties,  especially  in  those  cases  involv- 
ing the  life  of  the  offender,  furnished  a  model  worthy  of  imitation 
by  all  who  occupy  that  highly  important  and  responsible  situation : 
for  in  him  were  happily  united  a  most  strict  attention  to  the  merits 
of  the  case,  with  the  most  devoted  leaning  to  the  feelings  of 
humanity.  Mr.  Clinton  did  not  entertain  the  opinion  expressed 
by  some  late  philanthropists,  that  capital  punishments  are  un- 
necessary or  unjust.  Believing  with  the  most  enlightened  autho- 
rities, Beccaria,  Blackstone,  and  the  late  Sir  Samuel  Romilly,  that 
the  certainty  of  punishment  was  the  best  security  for  the  prevention 
of  crime,  our  statute  book  bears  witness  to  the  wisdom  of  his 
counsels  in  mitigating  the  severity  of  the  English  criminal  code ; 
and  during  his  performance  of  the  duties  of  judge,  as  assigned 
to  him  in  his  office  of  mayor,  the  culprit  was  equally  aware  of 
the  clemency  of  the  magistrate,  and  of  the  certainty  of  punishment 
in  the  case  of  conviction :  but  while  in  his  view  the  destruction 
of  human  life  could  only  be  expiated  by  the  lex  talionis,  he  was 
determined  that  the  last  punishment  of  the  law  should  be  inflicted 
on  those  who  were  the  wanton  instruments  of  its  violation. 

But  even  then  no  man  was  more  willing  to  listen  to,  or  eager  to 

5 


54 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


discover  any  circumstance  calculated  to  mitigate  the  crime  that 
had  been  committed;  to  this  purport  we  have  the  concurrent 
testimony  of  all  who  practised  in  the  court  in  which  the  mayor 
presided,  while  he  filled  that  honourable  and  responsible  office. 
By  a  gentleman  who  many  years  held  an  official  station  at  his 
side,  and  of  opposite  political  sentiments,  he  is  represented  to 
have  been  "  cautious,  attentive,  of  kind  temper,  patient  of  inves- 
tigation, and  discriminating  with  great  care ;  and  in  a  word,  that 
upon  all  occasions  he  acquitted  himself  as  the  pure,  impartial, 
patient,  and  upright  magistrate,  one  of  the  safest  men  that  ever 
presided  in  a  criminal  court,  and  ever  uniting  mercy  with  justice."* 
It  was  also  the  remark  of  a  late  eminentt  counsel,  who  was 
frequently  engaged  in  his  court  as  the  favourite  defender  of  that 
unfortunate  class  found  at  the  bar  of  the  court  of  criminal  juris- 
prudence, that  in  any  capital  trial  De  Witt  Clinton  was,  in  his 
estimation,  superior  to  any  judge  he  had  ever  known.  His 
charges  to  the  Court  of  Sessions,  of  which,  during  his  time,  the 
mayor  was  the  presiding  judge,  were  marked  with  a  sagacity  and 
judgment  that  received  the  unanimous  approbation  of  the  bar. 

In  the  cause  of  the  Trinity  Church  riot,  which  many  of  this 
auditory  may  remember,  his  sternness  and  severity  of  rebuke 
towards  some,  whose  rank  in  life  would  have  awed  the  authority 
of  a  less  firm  magistrate,  confirmed  his  character  in  the  minds 
of  all  peaceable  citizens,  and  had  no  inconsiderable  influence  on 
the  conduct  of  the  factious  and  the  unruly.  But  there  are  other 
and  more  enduring  monuments  of  his  legal  abilities. 


*  See  Appendix,  I. 


t  Washington  Morton,  Esq. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


55 


At  the  same  time  that  he  presided  over  the  police  of  our  city, 
he  frequently  filled  the  station  of  a  senator  in  our  state  legislature, 
where  he  distinguished  himself  not  only  by  his  able  patronage 
of  most  of  our  literary  and  benevolent  institutions,  requiring 
legislative  support,*  but  as  an  active  and  efficient  member  of  the 
Court  of  errors,  the  ulterior  tribunal  of  our  judiciary,  and  for  which 
his  legal  attainments  and  knowledge  had  peculiarly  qualified  him. 
This  leads  me  to  make  a  few  remarks  upon  the  character  of  Mr. 
Clinton  as  a  jurist.  It  may  appear  presumptuous  in  me,  a  member 
of  a  profession,  the  pursuits  of  which  are  totally  irrelevant,  to 
attempt  to  delineate  the  legal  acquirements  and  character  of  one 
so  justly  distinguished  for  the  rare  union  of  high  attainments, 
both  in  jurisprudence  and  political  science ;  but  when  my  audience 
is  informed,  that  in  speaking  of  the  legal  qualifications  of  Mr. 
Clinton,  I  rely  more  on  the  information  derived  from  his  coadjutors 
and  fellow-members  of  that  learned  and  respectable  profession, 
than  upon  my  own  competency  to  form  a  correct  opinion,  I  trust 
I  shall  be  acquitted  of  all  vanity  and  unjust  pretensions  in  attempt- 
ing to  delineate  this  part  of  his  character. 

Although  Mr.  Clinton,  as  has  appeared,  was  at  an  early  period 
after  his  admission  to  the  bar  called  into  political  life,  some 
opportunities  had  been  afforded  him  of  displaying  his  legal  talents 
and  acquirements,  and  which  could  not  fail  to  have  introduced 
him  into  a  highly  respectable  scene  of  practice.  Afterwards, 
when  officiating  as  a  member  of  our  State  Legislature,  but  more 
especially  in  the  capacity  of  a  member  of  the  Court  of  Errors, 
and  as  the  chief  magistrate  of  this  city,  he  was  oftentimes  called 


*  See  Journals  of  the  Legislature. 


56 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


upon  to  deliver  opinions,  in  cases  demanding  a  very  profound 
knowledge  of  the  law,  and  a  very  nice  discrimination  in  deciding 
upon  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  case  under  investigation, 
and  in  which  principles  were  involved  that  required  all  the  aid 
of  practice  and  experience  to  constitute  a  correct  decision;  yet 
I  am  enabled  to  say,  that  agreeably  to  the  opinion  entertained 
by  gentlemen  the  most  distinguished  at  the  bar,  whose  names 
reflect  lustre  upon  their  profession,  Mr.  Clinton's  decisions  and 
investigations  are  highly  honourable  to  his  talents  and  legal 
acquirements,  and  will  ever  be  appealed  to  as  standard  authorities; 
at  the  same  time  that  they  are  written  in  a  style  of  eloquence, 
which  cannot  fail  to  give  them  great  additional  interest. 

As  a  jurist  the  distinguishing  features  of  Mr.  Clinton's  intel- 
lectual character  were  fully  exhibited.  As  has  been  already  stated, 
in  presiding  over  the  court  of  criminal  jurisdiction  of  our  city, 
frequent  and  most  trying  occasions  were  presented,  which  taxed 
to  the  utmost  his  judicial  firmness. 

Those  occasions  have  passed,  and  it  is  hoped  that  the  recol- 
lection of  them,  and  the  angry  collisions  with  which  they  were 
connected  have  ceased,  save  the  remembrance  of  the  inflexible 
nerve  of  the  upright  magistrate. 

The  enlarged  and  liberal  mind  of  Mr.  Clinton  led  him  early 
to  perceive  the  inconveniences  and  evils  experienced  by  the  too 
general  introduction  into  the  country  of  systems  of  English  juris- 
prudence. In  the  session  of  1805,  the  disabilities  to  which  the 
Roman  Catholics  were  liable  by  the  English  law,  and  which  had 
been  too  implicitly  copied  in  this  country,  were  removed  chiefly 
by  his  exertions;  and  on  a  subsequent  occasion  in  1813,  he  carried 
through  the  legislature  a  bill,  by  which  the  clergy  of  this  class 
of  christians  had  secured  to  them  that  full  freedom  of  opinion, 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


57 


for  which  our  constitution  had  until  then  furnished  an  imperfect 
guarantee.  With  a  characteristic  and  enlightened  boldness,  from 
which  a  Holt  or  a  Mansfield  might  have  shrunk,  Mr.  Clinton 
decided  as  a  criminal  judge,  that  the  laws  of  England  which 
compel  the  disclosure  of  the  sacred  secrets  of  the  confessional, 
were  not  applicable  to  this  country,  whose  constitutional  charter 
guarantees  the  freedom  of  religious  opinion  and  worship.  Mr. 
Clinton  in  expressing  the  opinion  of  the  court,  defended  the 
concealment  of  the  sacrament  of  penance,  claimed  by  the  priest 
as  agreeable  to  the  constitution  of  our  government,  which  secures 
to  its  citizens  the  free  exercise  nnd  enjoyment  of  religious  pro- 
fession and  worship,  without  discrimination  or  preference;  and 
is  consecrated  by  the  social  compact,  by  the  principles  of  civil 
and  religious  liberty.  So  conclusive  were  the  arguments,  and 
such  the  eloquence  with  which  they  were  enforced  upon  that 
occasion,  that  the  decision  which  was  in  correspondence  with 
the  opinion  of  the  court,  gave  general  satisfaction  to  every 
religious  denomination,  as  well  calculated  to  dissipate  antiquated 
prejudices  and  religious  jealousies,  at  the  same  time  that  when 
compared  with  the  statutes  and  judgments  in  Europe  upon  similar 
subjects,  it  illustrates  the  independence  of  American  jurisprudence. 
This  adjudication  which  has  been  ably  reported  by  a  learned 
counsellor,*  constitutes  an  historical  document  which  has  not  only 
been  favourably  received  by  his  fellow-citizens,  but  will  be  precious 
and  instructive  to  the  present  and  future  generations.  The  phi- 
losopher, the  philanthropist  and  the    statesman,  were  equally 


*  See  the  report  of  the  trial  entitled  the  Catholic  question  in  America,  in  which  is  also 
contained  the  able  and  elaborate  argument  of  Counsellor  Sampson. 


58 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


conspicuous  in  this  celebrated  decision :  it  has  since  received  the 
highest  sanction,  and  it  is  now  the  settled  law  of  the  state. 

By  this  law  a  numerous  and  most  respectable  religious  denom- 
ination, is  relieved  from  the  oppression  of  an  arbitrary  authority, 
imposed  by  the  decisions  of  British  law,  which  would  deprive  them 
of  the  exercise  of  a  paramount  religious  duty,  enjoined  upon  them 
by  the  most  positive  obligations  of  their  faith. 

Upon  another  occasion,  when  a  great  principle,  upon  which  the 
value  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  mainly  depends,  namely,  the 
authority  to  review  the  decisions  of  inferior  courts  upon  the  return 
to  the  writ,  was  in  the  most  imminent  peril,  he  vindicated  and 
successfully  sustained  this  bulwark  of  our  liberties,  by  the  delivery 
of  an  opinion,  which  in  force  of  reasoning  and  successful  illus- 
tration, is  not  surpassed  in  the  judicial  eloquence  of  this  country. 

Details  of  this  nature  are  not  perhaps  expected  in  this  place, 
yet  it  may  not  be  irrelevant  to  observe,  that  his  argument  in  the 
case  of  John  Van  Ness  Yates  went  far  to  decide,  as  well  in  the 
minds  of  the  proper  authorities  as  in  those  of  the  public  at  large, 
a  question  of  the  greatest  importance  in  the  legal  history  of  this 
state,  and  which  at  the  time  excited  no  inconsiderable  feeling. 
The  decision  in  accordance  with  his  views,  settled  the  controversy 
in  a  manner  satisfactory  both  to  the  friends  of  the  parties  them- 
selves, and  to  the  wishes  and  opinions  of  the  prudent  and  judicious 
at  large.  This  opinion  remains  among  the  records  of  talent 
and  of  genius,  a  cheering  light  to  the  friends  of  liberty,  and  a 
warning  beacon  against  judicial  encroachment.  The  merchants 
of  this  city,  notwithstanding  their  liberal*  acknowledgment  of 


*  See  Appendix,  J. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


59 


his  public  services,  are  probably  not  aware  of  the  extent  of  their 
obligations  to  the  learning,  solid  judgment,  and  independence  of 
Mr.  Clinton. 

By  a  principle  of  English  law  adapted  to  the  peculiar  interests  of 
that  country,  and  calculated  for  the  protection  of  those  interests  at 
the  expense  of  the  rest  of  the  world,  the  sentences  of  foreign  courts 
of  admiralty  were  held  conclusive  upon  all  mankind,  while  the 
judgment  of  every  other  foreign  court  were  open  to  examinations 
and  contradiction.  Under  the  sanction  of  this  principle,  British 
cruisers  seized  our  vessels  upon  the  slightest  pretexts,  and  the 
petty  admiralty  courts  of  the  West  India  Islands,  legalized  those 
seizures  by  condemnations  without  scruple  and  without  cause. 
Insurance  afforded  no  protection,  for  the  sentence  and  the  grounds 
upon  which  it  assumed  to  proceed,  were  not  suffered  to  be  denied 
or  explained,  however  false  in  fact,  or  however  illegal  or  iniquitous 
in  effect.  Against  this  system  of  rapine  Mr.  Clinton  raised  his 
voice,  and  in  an  admirable  opinion,  whose  force  and  authority 
have  been  strengthened  by  time,  overthrew  the  principle  and  all 
its  consequences.  The  proceedings  of  those  courts  were  declared 
open  to  investigation,  their  sentences  liable  to  contradiction  by 
proof,  and  commerce  was  thus  far  freed  from  its  fetters.  This 
memorable  decision  has  been  repeatedly  sanctioned,  and  rigidly 
adhered  to  by  all  the  courts  of  this  state.  Long  before  those 
plans  of  legal  reform  which  now  engage  public  attention,  both 
in  England  and  in  this  country  were  commenced,  Mr.  Clinton 
had  repeatedly  urged  legislative  efforts  upon  the  subject.  These 
suggestions  probably  led  to  the  adoption  of  that  system  which, 
as  far  as  regards  our  statute  law,  has  been  so  auspiciously  com- 
menced in  this  state,  and  which  has  uniformly  received  from  him 
the  most  encouraging  approbation  and  support.    But  the  attain- 


60 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


ments  of  Mr.  Clinton  as  a  jurist,  are  too  rich  and  copious  for  a 
full  developement  in  the  narrow  limits  of  this  outline,  while  the 
incidents  already  presented  are  sufficient  to  exhibit  the  operations 
of  the  same  great  mind  which  enlightened  and  adorned  so  many 
other  pursuits. 

In  the  language  of  Chancellor  Kent,*  whose  high  professional 
standing,  and  whose  writings  reflect  lustre  upon  the  legal  cha- 
racter, as  well  as  the  literature  of  our  country,  "  the  opinions  of 
Mr.  Clinton  are  ably  and  powerfully  written,  and  do  great  credit 
to  his  vigorous  powers  of  thought  and  style :  some  of  his  opinions, 
he  adds,  are  models  of  judiciary  and  parliamentary  eloquence, 
and  they  all  relate  to  great  questions  affecting  constitutional  rights 
and  personal  liberty." 

Another  distinguished  member  of  the  profession,  who  has  ever 
ranked,  and  has  long  been  known  as  the  Mansfieldf  of  the  New- 
York  bench,  and  whose  opinions  have  ever  been  regarded  with 
reverence,  in  a  private  communication  I  had  the  honour  to  receive 
from  him,  thus  expresses  himself:  "  Mr.  Clinton  certainly  evinced 
great  versatility  of  talent,  his  legal  opinions  exhibited  high  evidence 
of  the  powers  of  reasoning  and  acute  investigation;  his  method 
of  illustration  was  felicitous,  his  language  pure  and  eloquent." 

In  the  language  of  another  friend,  an  eminent  member  of  the 
New-York  bar,:};  speaking  of  the  legal  opinions  of  Mr.  Clinton, 
he  remarks, — "  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  they  were,  in 
my  judgment,  the  happiest  efforts  of  his  pen :  there  is  displayed 
in  them  at  once  an  ease  and  purity  of  style,  and  a  fine  manly 


*  See  Appendix,  K.  f  The  Honourable  Ambrose  Spencer. 

|  Henry  Warner,  Esquire. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


61 


progress  of  connected  thought,  surpassing,  as  I  think,  the  best 
of  his  other  writings,  at  the  same  lime  that  they  afford  very 
favourable  evidence  of  his  character  as  ;i  lawyer." 

To  no  one  in  this  country  are  we  more  indebted  than  to  Mr. 
Clinton,  for  freeing  us  from  those  numerous  and  superfluous 
technicalities,  which  have  for  ages  proved  the  source  of  incon- 
venience and  expense  in  the  adjudication  of  the  rights  of  our 
citizens  and  of  property,  and  which  it  is  the  boast  of  our  state 
in  some  measure  to  have  lessened  or  removed.  His  then  is  the 
great  and  permanent  merit  of  having  accommodated  that  system 
of  English  law  to  the  genius  of  our  republican  institutions,  of 
infusing  into  a  code  wise  and  well  settled  in  its  foundations  and 
leading  principles,  but  disfigured  by  too  much  technicality  and 
refinement,  a  greater  spirit  of  liberality  and  a  more  benignant 
feeling  of  philanthropy. 

We  do  not  pretend  to  trace  any  communication  between  the 
distinguished  men  of  Europe  and  of  this  country,  who  have 
recently  and  simultaneously  contemplated  this  great  work  of 
reform  in  jurisprudence  as  well  as  in  civil  government ;  but  passing 
over  the  elaborate  and  able  discourse  on  the  subject  pronounced 
before  the  Historical  Society  of  New-York  by  Counsellor  Sampson, 
and  his  correspondence  with  Governor  Wilson  of  South  Carolina, 
in  1824,*  which  is  before  the  public,  the  coincidence  between 
the  views  entertained  and  promulgated  by  the  late  lamented 
statesman  of  New- York,  and  the  celebrated  Henry  Brougham, 
in  the  benign  and  salutary  improvement  he  is  now  endeavouring 
to  effect  in  the  most  enlightened  of  modern  nations,  is  certainly 


*  See  Appendix,  L. 

6 


62 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


no  less  a  matter  of  surprise,  than  it  is  an  evidence  of  the  impor- 
tance and  necessity  of  the  changes  that  are  contemplated. 

It  redounds  greatly  to  the  honour  of  Mr.  Clinton,  that  from 
the  care  and  distractions  of  public  and  political  life,  he  snatched 
a  portion  of  his  time  and  devoted  it,  like  Bacon,  the  great  model 
of  his  imitation,  and  the  object  of  his  enthusiastic  encomium, 
to  the  noblest  of  all  occupations,  intellectual  cultivation ;  it  may 
indeed  be  said  of  him,  that  "  he  is  himself  the  great  sublime  he 
draws,"  that  he  belonged  to  that  class  of  men  so  happily  described 
by  the  illustrious  Burke,  in  whom  an  acquaintance  with  the  forms 
of  the  law  does  not  impair  the  enlargement  and  liberality  of  their 
minds,  which  are  happily  sharpened  and  invigorated  without  injury 
to  higher  and  loftier  qualities. 

It  is  well  known  that  in  the  Court  of  Errors,  he  for  many  years 
by  his  influence  and  eloquence,  nobly  released  our  jurisprudence 
from  many  of  those  trammels  by  which  it  too  often  subverts  the 
purposes  of  justice  and  equity,  and  prepared  the  public  mind 
for  those  radical  improvements  in  the  statute  law,  which  I  trust 
we  are  now  about  to  realize.  In  the  language  of  the  able  editor 
of  the  American  Annual  Register  recently  published, — "  It  is  but 
an  act  of  justice  to  Mr.  Clinton  to  state,  that  in  official  commu- 
nications to  the  legislature,  for  years  previously  to  the  act  of  1825, 
he  had  strenuously  urged  various  important  reforms  in  the  laws 
of  the  state ;  and  that  these  recommendations  prepared  the  public 
mind,  and  in  a  great  measure  led  to  the  important  work  of  revisal 
now  in  progress.  It  constantly  received  his  cordial  approbation 
and  vigorous  co-operation,  so  far  as  his  station  afforded  the 
means."* 


*  Annual  Register,  1826-7,  p.  464. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


63 


Mr.  Clinton's  strong  recommendation  to  the  legislature  of  a 
review  of  our  civil  code,  will  be  an  enduring  evidence  to  after 
ages  of  his  liberal  views  and  foresight;  and  if  the  execution  of 
that  great  work  shall  correspond  with  the  genius  and  spirit  in 
which  it  was  conceived,  and  of  which  the  talents  and  learning  of 
those  engaged  in  its  accomplishment  afford  every  pledge,  posterity 
will  rank  him  with  the  Justinians  and  the  Edwards  of  other 
nations. 

From  what  has  been  stated  it  is  manifest  that  he  studied  his 
profession  in  the  spirit  of  liberality,  and  that  he  formed  himself 
rather  upon  the  model  of  Lord  Bacon,  than  of  his  professional 
rival  Coke;  and  it  may  not  be  irrelevant  here  to  offer  to  my 
auditors  his  striking  contrast  between  these  two  illustrious  lawyers, 
as  exhibiting  in  bold  and  masterly  view  the  studies  and  character 
of  an  accomplished  member  of  the  bar.  Doubtless  but  for  the 
exigencies  of  the  times,  and  the  critical  situation  of  our  political 
affairs,  he  had  followed,  at  no  distant  interval,  the  great  original 
which  he  here  so  faithfully  depicts. 

In  his  Discourse  before  the  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society 
of  New-York,  speaking  of  Bacon  and  Coke,  he  observes,  "  they 
were  both  eminent  in  their  profession,  and  attained  the  highest 
honours  and  most  lucrative  emoluments.  Bacon  became  Lord 
High  Chancellor  of  England,  and  Cpke  a  Chief  Justice.  The 
former  had  ascended  the  empyreal  heights  of  literature ;  the  latter 
had  plunged  into  the  learning  of  Norman  lawyers,  and  had  become 
the  oracle  of  the  common  law.  The  works  of  Bacon  are  referred 
to  as  the  oracle  of  truth  and  knowledge,  and  as  the  revelation 
of  genuine  philosophy:  while  the  black  letter  learning  of  Coke 
is  an  eleusynian  mystery  to  all  out  of  the  pale  of  the  profession. 


64 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


The  difference  between  a  mere  lawyer  great  in  his  profession 
alone,  and  a  great  lawyer  eminent  in  literature  and  science,  can 
never  be  more  forcibly  illustrated  than  in  the  exhibition  of  these 
celebrated  men.  Bacon  enlivened,  enriched,  and  embellished 
every  subject  upon  which  he  wrote ;  even  flowers  sprang  up  under 
his  feet  in  his  journey  through  the  thorny  paths  of  legal  investi- 
gation. But  from  Coke  you  must  expect  nothing  but  the  dry 
barren  weeds  of  scholastic  subtlety  and  Norman  chicanery." 

In  1817  that  popular  leader,  the  late  Daniel  D.  Tompkins, 
having  been  elected  to  the  office  of  Vice  President  of  the  United 
States,  De  Witt  Clinton  was  first  called  upon  by  the  people  of 
the  state  to  preside  over  them  as  their  chief  magistrate.  In 
selecting  him  for  this  distinguished  honour,  there  was  a  remarka- 
ble coalition  amongst  the  principal  parties  which  had  previously 
been  divided  upon  every  political  subject.  But  upon  this  occasion 
they  all  appeared  to  unite  in  the  opinion,  that  his  talents  and 
zealous  exertions  in  promoting  the  interest  of  the  state,  had 
merited  the  confidence  they  were  now  about  to  repose  in  him. 
He  was  elected  with  comparatively  little  opposition,  and  during 
the  first  year  of  his  administration,  nothing  occurred  to  disturb 
the  harmony  of  the  state. 

His  republican  opponents,  who  were  then  even  more  powerful 
as  a  party  than  they  are  at  present,  permitted  to  remain  in  oblivion 
the  recollection  that  Mr.  Clinton  some  years  before  had  opposed 
Mr.  Madison  on  his  second  election  to  the  Presidency;  the 
federalists  were  equally  kind  in  blotting  out  the  remembrance 
of  some  sentiments  which  had  been  expressed  by  Mr.  Clinton, 
and  which  at  the  time  they  were  uttered  had  given  them  such 
dire  offence. 

During  the  short  tranquillity  which  succeeded  his  election,  all 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


<>;> 


parties  appeared  anxious  to  sustain  him  in  his  exertions  to  advance 
the  prosperity  of  the  state,  and  those  patriots  who  kept  aloof 
from  party  conflicts,  hailed  the  event  as  auspicious  of  future 
benefit;  but  the  union  of  politicians,  when  based  upon  the  expec- 
tations and  hopes  of  personal  advantages,  is  never  lasting,  and 
the  first  disagreement  generally  dissolves  it.  When  the  difficult 
task  of  filling  up  appointments  was  performed  by  the  Governor, 
he  very  soon  gave  offence,  and  particularly  to  certain  republican 
friends  who  alleged  that  he  had  not  kept  faith  with  them,  but 
had  gone  over  to  their  political  adversaries;  and  strange  to  tell, 
many  of  the  latter  also  took  offence,  and  for  a  time  he  was  openly 
opposed  by  some  of  the  most  distinguished  federal  leaders. 

From  this  period  a  systematic  attack  was  made  against  his 
administration:  it  was  declared  that  they  would  never  rest  satisfied 
until  he  was  displaced  from  office,  as  a  punishment  for  what 
they  considered  and  pronounced  to  be  his  "  desertion  of  their 
standard.*'  All  the  former  acts  of  his  political  life  were  brought 
forward  in  array  against  him;  he  was  abused  without  measure 
for  his  unchastened  ambition:"  he  was  accused  of  having  opposed 
the  late  war;  he  was  charged  with  aiding  in  the  persecution  of 
Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  whose  accounts  with  the  State  Treasury 
were  then  about  being  settled;  and  worst  of  all,  the  merit  of 
having  been  the  most  efficient  friend  to  the  grand  canal,  was 
unqualifiedly  denied  to  him. 

Whatever  may  have  been  his  political  errors  connected  with 
party  politics,  and  however  he  may  have  offended  those  who  had 
supported  his  first  election,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  during  the 
whole  period  of  his  administration,  he  never  for  a  moment 
neglected  the  cardinal  interests  of  the  state;  nor  did  any  personal 
resentment  prevent  him  from  constantly  urging  upon  the  legislature, 


66 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


such  measures  as  he  thought  necessary  or  expedient  to  increase 
the  resources  and  reputation  of  the  state.  That  he  was  ambitious, 
his  friends  have  never  denied ;  but  his  was  an  ambition  which  was 
founded  not  on  the  ruins,  but  upon  the  prosperity  of  his  country ; 
he  sought  for  an  enduring  fame  that  would  live  after  him,  and 
not  the  paltry  perquisites  or  the  mere  honorary  titles  of  office. 
Such,  however,  was  the  power  of  party,  and  so  well  was  it 
organized,  that  his  opponents  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  majority 
first  in  the  senate,  and  afterwards  in  the  assembly.  But  when 
they  did  so,  the  "  canal  policy"  had  been  so  firmly  established, 
mainly  through  his  unceasing  exertions,  they  did  not  dare  to  alter 
it:  thus  practically  approving  of  the  measures  which  had  emanated 
from  him,  and  placing  themselves  in  the  unenviable  light  of  mere 
personal  opponents. 

As  the  expiration  of  his  term  approached  in  1820,  every  possible 
preparation  was  made  for  a  dreadful  conflict.  The  utmost  exer- 
tions were  used  throughout  the  state  to  secure  votes,  and  no 
act  was  omitted  by  the  leaders  of  the  party,  which  could  in  any 
way  benefit  their  cause.  In  order  to  secure  a  victory,  they  per- 
suaded Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  who  was  still  Vice  President,  to 
enter  the  lists  once  more  in  his  native  state,  where  from  his  former 
popularity  he  was  emphatically  called  "  the  man  of  the  people :" 
never  was  there  a  greater  struggle  between  splendid  talents  and 
party  zeal.  On  the  one  hand,  the  good  sense  and  justice  of  the 
people  were  depended  upon ;  on  the  other,  an  appeal  was  made 
to  their  party  feelings  and  political  connections. 

Close  and  animated  was  the  contest,  and  for  some  days  the 
issue  extremely  doubtful.  Upon  an  enumeration  of  all  the  votes, 
which  by  the  returns  amounted  to  about  180,000,  it  appeared  that 
Mr.  Clinton  was  re-elected  by  a  majority  of  less  than  two  thousand. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLTNTON. 


67 


It  was  considered  by  his  friends  a  great  triumph,  because  on  his 
part,  there  was  nothing  to  urge  but  his  talents  and  services ;  his 
partisans  had  not  been  well  organised,  whilst  his  opponents  were 
mighty  as  a  party,  and  had  as  their  champion  a  man  who  had 
been  deservedly  popular  during  the  war,  and  whose  very  misfor- 
tunes since  that  period  had  endeared  him  still  more  to  his  friends. 

Being  thus  unexpectedly  foiled  in  their  formidable  attack  upon 
Governor  Clinton,  the  opposition  next  proceeded  to  harass  his 
administration  in  every  possible  way.  Having  majorities  in  both 
houses,  and  also  the  council  of  appointment,  they  removed  from 
office  his  friends,  and  put  in  their  places  his  most  active  enemies. 

In  the  year  1821,  whilst  party  spirit  was  at  its  height,  they 
determined  to  effect  a  change  in  the  constitution  of  the  state, 
ostensibly  for  the  purpose  of  removing  its  defects,  but  in  reality 
to  gratify  their  own  feelings,  by  lessening  the  power  of  the 
Governor,  extending  the  right  of  suffrage,  and  removing  those 
judges  who  were  known  to  be  his  attached  and  personal  friends. 
In  this  measure  they  were  but  too  successful,  and  since  that  period 
have  had  ample  time  to  regret  that  party  zeal  had  ever  carried 
them  so  far,  as  to  inflict  more  evils  than  those  they  pretended 
to  rectify. 

After  his  re-election  in  1820,  Governor  Clinton  who  had  observed 
the  gathering  storm,  resolved  calmly  to  meet  it :  he  continued 
to  devote  his  time  and  his  talents  to  the  services  of  his  native  state. 
He  had  succeeded  in  his  favourite  object  in  relation  to  the  canal 
navigation ;  he  had  aroused  the  people  from  their  lethargy  upon 
the  subject  of  internal  improvements ;  he  had  witnessed  the^ 
progressive  increase  of  common  schools  under  the  patronage 
of  his  administration;  and  he  felt  satisfied  that  whatever  personal 
mortifications  he  might  have  to  endure,  his  policy  had  so  com- 


68 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


pletely  received  the  approbation  of  the  people,  it  could  never  be 
destroyed  by  his  opponents.  He,  therefore,  after  five  years  service 
as  chief  magistrate,  during  which  time  the  state  had  greatly 
increased  in  wealth,  being  unwilling  again  to  arouse  the  angry 
feelings  of  party  warfare,  voluntarily  declined  being  a  candidate 
at  the  ensuing  election  in  1822.  To  the  great  regret  of  his  friends 
throughout  the  state,  he  now  retired  to  private  life ;  but  during 
that  retirement  his  powerful  energies  were  not  dormant. 

In  October  1823,  when  the  canal  celebration  took  place  in 
Albany,  he  was  the  popular  divinity,  and  many  then  looked  forward 
with  hope  to  his  entry  once  more  into  public  life.  Whether  it 
was  that  the  jealousy  of  his  enemies  was  aroused  by  the  strong 
indications  of  public  regard  that  were  then  shown  him,  or  that 
they  were  determined  to  crush  him  for  ever,  cannot  now  be  told : 
but  certain  it  is,  that  soon  afterwards  they  gave  a  further  proof 
of  their  political  hatred  and  party  folly,  by  removing  him  from 
his  station  as  canal  commissioner. 

It  proved  to  be  the  most  fortunate  step  for  him  that  could  have 
been  taken:  such  an  uncalled  for  act  of  persecution  and  cruelty, 
operated  upon  them  with  a  sensible  re-action.  His  friends  once 
more  took  the  field,  and  many  of  his  former  adversaries  joined 
their  ranks :  the  party  which  had  heretofore  held  such  despotic 
sway  became  divided  within  itself,  and  at  a  propitious  moment, 
his  friends,  availing  themselves  "  of  the  signs  of  the  times,"  again 
brought  their  favourite  before  the  people  as  a  candidate  for  that 
office  which  he  had  so  ably  filled.  In  1824,  he  was  opposed  to 
Colonel  Young,  the  candidate  of  his  opponents,  but  was  elected 
by  a  majority  of  nearly  twenty  thousand  votes. 

It  was  fortunate  for  the  credit  and  honour  of  the  state,  that 
the  opportunity  was  thus  afforded  of  redeeming  itself  from  the 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


69 


charge  of  ingratitude  towards  one  of  its  greatest  statesmen  and 
brightest  ornaments,  which  would  otherwise  have  remained  a 
lasting  stigma  upon  the  patriotism  of  her  citizens. 

After  this  signal  expression  of  public  favour,  there  was  no 
recurrence  of  that  inveterate  opposition  against  Governor  Clinton, 
which  had  marked  the  period  of  his  former  administration,  and 
he  was  permitted,  without  resistance,  to  renew  all  his  exertions 
in  favour  of  his  patriotic  policy.  In  1826  he  was  again  opposed, 
but  the  weapons  were  of  a  more  peaceable  character,  and  there 
was  comparatively  little  of  that  virulent  abuse  which,  to  the 
disgrace  of  our  country,  is  too  frequently  manifested  upon  occa- 
sions of  this  nature. 

He  succeeded  by  a  majority  of  about  four  thousand  votes,  which 
would,  doubtless,  have  been  much  larger,  had  his  friends  generally 
come  forward  in  his  support,  but  they  felt  so  confident  in  the 
success  of  his  re-election,  that  many  of  them  saved  themselves  the 
trouble  of  attending  the  polls. 

His  opponent  was  Judge  Rochester,  whose  party  had  been 
much  increased  by  the  supposed  connection  between  him  and  the 
administration  of  the  general  government.  After  this  election, 
until  the  time  of  his  death,  Governor  Clinton  had  been  so  suc- 
cessful in  obtaining  the  approbation  and  support  of  both  houses 
of  the  legislature,  as  well  as  of  his  fellow-citizens  throughout 
the  union,  and  had  gained  such  a  complete  victory  over  the 
party  feelings  of  former  times,  that  next  to  the  two  leading 
candidates  for  the  Presidency,  his  prospect  of  eventually  attaining 
to  that  elevated  station,  had  become  greater  than  that  of  any  other 
citizen  of  the  United  States. 

May  I  be  excused  for  dwelling  so  long  upon  these  political 
details;   they  are  a  part  of  the  life  of  Mr.  Clinton,  and  his 

7 


70 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


biographer  would  be  censurably  deficient  were  he  to  omit  an 
appropriate  notice  of  them.  A  more  grateful  theme  is  to  advert 
to  the  leading  acts  of  his  great  and  triumphant  administration. 

It  has  already  been  observed,  how  intimately  Mr.  Clinton  was 
connected  with  the  numerous  public  charities  which  characterise 
New-York.  His  fostering  care  and  active  services  to  these 
several  institutions  continued  with  unabated  zeal  during  his  official 
capacity  as  Governor.  He  took  an  active  interest  in  the  unhappy 
condition  of  our  Indian  tribes,  and  held  divers  conferences  with 
them,  the  better  to  devise  the  means  of  ameliorating  their  condi- 
tion, and  of  promoting  their  civilization. 

The  degraded  condition  of  the  descendants  of  Africa  also 
awakened  his  philanthropy,  and  stimulated  his  best  efforts  in  their 
behalf. 

Another  of  the  earliest  subjects  of  his  solicitude  which  he 
recommended  to  the  consideration  of  the  state,  was  agriculture. 
In  his  famous  first  message  as  Governor,  he  thus  expresses  himself: 
"  As  agriculture  is  the  source  of  our  subsistence,  the  basis  of  our 
strength,  and  the  foundation  of  our  prosperity,  it  is  pleasing  to 
observe  the  public  attention  awakened  to  its  importance,  and 
associations  springing  up  in  several  counties  to  cherish  its  interest. 
Having  received  but  a  small  portion  of  direct  encouragement  from 
government,  it  has  been  left  to  its  own  energies;  and  supported 
by  a  fertile  soil,  cherished  by  a  benign  climate,  cultivated  by 
industry,  and  protected  by  liberty,  it  has  diffused  its  bounties 
over  the  country,  and  has  relieved  the  wants  of  the  old  world. 
Relying  hitherto  almost  exclusively  on  the  fertility  of  our  soil  and 
the  extent  of  our  possessions,  we  have  not  adopted  those  improve- 
ments which  the  experience  of  modern  times  has  indicated.  And 
it  has  not  been  sufficiently  understood  that  agriculture  is  a  science 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


71 


as  well  as  an  art ;  that  it  demands  the  labour  of  the  mind  as  well 
as  of  the  hands;  and  that  its  successful  cultivation  is  intimately 
allied  with  the  most  profound  investigations  of  philosophy,  and 
the  most  elaborate  exertions  of  the  human  mind." 

He  believed  it  to  be  the  peculiar  province  of  the  state  govern- 
ment, to  superintend  and  advance  the  interests  of  agriculture, 
and  to  this  end  he  deemed  it  adviseable  to  recommend  the 
institution  of  a  board,  composed  of  the  most  experienced  and 
best  informed  agriculturists,  whose  duty  it  should  be  "  to  cor- 
respond with  the  county  societies ;  to  communicate  to  them 
beneficial  discoveries  and  improvements ;  to  introduce  useful 
seeds,  plants,  trees  and  animals,  implements  of  husbandry,  and 
labor-saving  machines;  to  explore  the  minerals  of  the  country, 
and  to  publish  periodically,  the  most  valuable  observations  and 
treatises  on  husbandry,  horticulture,  and  rural  economy.  The 
county  societies  ought,"  says  he,  "to  be  enabled  to  distribute 
adequate  premiums  ;  and  a  professorship  of  agriculture  connected 
with  the  board  or  attached  to  the  university,  might  also  be  con- 
stituted, embracing  the  kindred  sciences  of  chemistry  and  geology, 
mineralogy,  botany,  and  the  other  departments  of  natural  history. 
By  which  means  a  complete  course  of  agricultural  education 
would  be  taught,  developing  the  principles  of  the  science,  illus- 
trating the  practice  of  the  art,  and  restoring  this  first  and  best 
pursuit  of  man  to  that  intellectual  rank  which  it  ought  to  occupy 
in  the  scale  of  human  estimation." 

These  enlarged  views  received  the  approbation  of  the  people 
and  of  the  legislature :  accordingly,  during  his  administration, 
an  act  was  passed  in  1819  for  the  formation  of  agricultural 
societies.  It  may  be  doubted  whether  all  the  beneficent  designs 
of  the  legislature  have  been  fulfilled  by  the  event ;  but  it  is  certain, 


72 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


that  a  salutary  impulse  has  thereby  been  given  to  our  system  of 
husbandry  throughout  the  state,  the  profitable  effects  of  which 
we  this  day  enjoy.*  Of  the  society  for  internal  improvements, 
and  of  the  society  of  arts  and  manufactures,  Mr.  Clinton  was 
also,  during  its  existence,  an  early  and  active  member,  and  always 
supported  the  propriety  of  encouraging  all  measures  by  which 
we  might  be  rendered  independent  of  foreign  aid,  though  he  was 
sceptical  of  that  policy  which  looked  to  the  government  for  its 
interference  and  protection. 

I  have  merely  time  here  to  allude  to  his  recommendations  for 
an  increase  of  the  duties  upon  sales  by  auction,  by  which  a 
considerable  revenue  was  raised,  and  the  tax  upon  unproductive 
lands  avoided,  and  to  his  recommendations  of  the  abolition  of 
imprisonment  for  debt,  and  his  suggestions  in  favour  of  a  revised 
militia  code.  By  his  interference  to  prevent  the  undue  increase 
of  banking  capital,  much  expense  and  litigation  were  saved  to 
the  holders  of  notes  of  accommodation,  by  the  provisions  of  the 
law  which  he  recommended. 

He  had  ever  considered  a  state  revenue  by  lotteries  as  injurious 
and  of  immoral  tendency ;  much  of  the  corruption  in  this  method 
of  finance  then  complained  of,  is  now  avoided  by  the  substitution 
of  the  present  system.  Benevolent  and  literary  institutions  were 
equally  the  object  of  his  attention  as  heretofore,  and  the  condition 


*  The  Board  of  Agriculture  ceased  at  the  period  of  its  limitation,  by  the  expiration 
of  the  law  under  which  it  was  organized,  in  April  1826.  It  published  three  volumes, 
entitled  Memoirs  of  the  Board  of  Agriculture  of  the  State  of  New- York,  8vo.  Albany, 
1821,  1823,  1826  : — a  work  highly  creditable  to  the  enterprising  board,  and  to  the  enlight- 
ened editor  G.  W.  Featherstonhaugh,  Esquire. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


73 


of  the  poor  and  the  penitentiary  system,  at  all  times  participated 
of  his  vigilance  and  received  the  benefits  of  his  sagacity  and  care. 

I  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  at  length  of  his  services  in 
that  enduring  monument  of  public  enterprise,  the  grand  canal. 
Splendid  as  is  this  evidence  of  his  genius,  numerous  works  of 
similar  character,  instigated  by  his  success,  are  completing  in 
other  and  far  distant  portions  of  our  country. 

It  was  ever  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Clinton,  to  communicate  with 
freedom  and  candour  his  enlightened  views  whenever  he  was 
consulted,  and  he  freely  made  known  every  improvement  or 
measure  which  presented  itself  to  his  mind,  however  it  might 
divert  from,  or  be  opposed  to  the  interests  of  New-York :  those 
local  feelings  of  jealousy  found  no  place  in  his  mind,  which  was 
ever  governed  by  a  spirit  of  liberality  and  benevolence,  that 
extended  to  the  whole  family  of  man.  His  plans  were  not  cir- 
cumscribed by  geographical  limits,  or  even  by  national  policy. 
The  two  most  noted  examples  of  his  generosity  and  disinterested- 
ness, are  the  countenance  and  influence  he  afforded  to  the  Ohio 
and  Welland  canals.* 

His  public  administration,  it  is  well  known,  was  characterised 
by  incorruptible  integrity,  inflexible  firmness,  unshaken  personal 
courage,  and  a  vigilant  attention  to  the  great  interests  of  the 
state.  Indeed,  it  may  be  said  of  Mr.  Clinton,  that  in  every 
situation  he  filled,  whether  performing  the  duties  of  chief  magis- 
trate of  the  state,  or  of  the  common  council,  the  judge  on  the 
bench,  or  as  the  presiding  officer  of  the  numerous  literary  and 


*  See  Judge  Conkling's  able  Discourse  commemorative  of  the  talents,  virtues,  and 
services  of  the  late  De  Witt  Clinton. 


74 


MEMOIR  OP  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


benevolent  institutions  with  which  he  was  connected,  his  energy, 
his  decision  and  perseverance,  were  ever  fearlessly  exercised. 

I  am  in  course  to  speak  of  his  various  writings ;  and  here  I  am 
far  from  claiming  for  him  the  graces  of  Goldsmith,  or  the  classical 
purity  of  Addison.  Though  intimately  conversant  with  the  pro- 
ductions of  the  most  eminent  writers  of  ancient  and  modern 
genius,  he  was  too  largely  immersed  in  the  details  of  business, 
to  transfer  to  his  own  pages  the  scholastic  spirit  of  the  great 
masters  of  finished  composition ;  yet  he  was  deeply  imbued  with 
their  merits,  and  if  he  did  not  always  rival  them,  it  was  in  no 
small  degree  owing  to  the  intractable  nature  of  his  themes. 
Instances  of  carelessness  and  haste  at  times  appear,  yet  I  should 
not  hesitate  to  rank  him  among  the  most  able  and  powerful  of 
American  writers.  If  he  occasionally  betrays  a  want  of  elegance, 
he  is,  nevertheless,  always  clear  and  vigorous,  and  we  always 
understand  him,  because  he  always  understands  himself. 

I  have  heretofore  spoken  of  his  various  communications  as  a 
public  magistrate.  His  addresses  to  the  patriotic  and  brave 
heroes  during  the  late  war,  are  too  well  known  to  require  a 
particular  notice,  yet  perhaps  they  are  among  the  most  suc- 
cessful efforts  of  his  genius;  and  while  they  enhanced  the 
honours  which  a  grateful  country  bestowed  on  its  defenders,  they 
contributed  to  diffuse  and  excite  a  spirit  and  feeling  among  our 
countrymen,  that  enabled  them  to  pass  successfully  through  that 
conflict  in  which  they  were  engaged. 

Among  the  earliest  efforts  in  eloquence,  is  his  reported  speech 
on  the  famous  resolution  of  Mr.  Ross,  delivered  in  the  senate  of  the 
United  States  in  1802,  on  the  right  of  deposit  at  New  Orleans.  It 
was  his  first  great  appearance  before  the  eyes  of  the  American 
nation,  and  received  the  applause  both  of  his  political  friends  and 


.MEMOIR  OF  L)E  WITT  CLINTON 


opponents.  He  resisted  with  vigour  and  effect,  the  attempt  of  the 
most  able  and  powerful  opposition  to  settle  by  arms  what  negotiation 
might  accomplish.  The  course  he  recommended  was  that  which 
was  pursued,  and  resulted  in  a  measure  which  stamps  the  admin- 
istration of  Jefferson  with  immortal  honour,  the  acquisition  of 
Louisiana  for  a  sum  infinitely  less  than  would  have  enabled  our 
government  to  fit  out  an  armament  to  recover  our  disputed  right 
to  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi. 

As  Governor  of  the  state  of  New-York,  he  was  scarcely  less 
conspicuous  than  the  chief  magistrate  of  the  nation.  The 
enlarged  and  enlightened  policy  then  pursued,  doubtless,  con- 
tributed to  his  fame,  but  he  was  its  master  spirit  and  invigorating 
agent.  He  gave  impetus  and  direction  to  its  efforts,  and  infused 
into  its  counsels  that  energy  which  is  so  necessary  in  overcoming 
those  obstacles  and  impediments  which  a  free  government 
furnishes,  as  well  to  salutary  as  to  injurious  measures,  and  of 
which  the  timid  and  the  selfish  are  so  ready  to  avail  themselves. 
His  Inaugural  Speech  as  Governor,  delivered  in  January  1818, 
excited  a  share  of  attention  that  had  never  been  bestowed  upon 
any  other  similar  document.  In  this  distinguished  paper  he 
referred  to  almost  every  subject  which  demanded  legislative  care : 
agriculture,  colleges,  schools  of  elementary  learning,  the  arts,  the 
militia  system,  criminal  jurisprudence,  the  reformation  of  the  poor 
laws,  monied  institutions,  finances,  and  his  favourite  topic  of  inland 
communications,  all  severally  were  treated  of,  and  their  interests 
lucidly  and  earnestly  enforced. 

His  succeeding  messages  are  not  less  comprehensive  in  their 
design,  or  less  able  in  their  execution.  They  will  ever  be  deemed 
models  of  their  kind,  and  be  referred  to  by  the  politician  as 
successful  evidences  of  the  powerful  mind  and  legislative  wisdom 


76 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


of  their  author.  Their  style  is  manly  and  impressive,  and  they 
carry  conviction  by  the  logical  accuracy  and  force  of  their  details. 

That  valuable  institution  of  our  state,  the  New-York  Historical 
Society,  as  already  intimated,  is  largely  indebted  to  Mr.  Clinton 
for  his  various  services.  His  discourse  delivered  before  this  dis- 
tinguished body,  upon  his  assuming  the  office  of  president,  has 
justly  been  considered  the  most  masterly  and  finished  of  all  his 
literary  productions.  In  its  able  delineation  of  character  and 
philosophical  spirit  of  research,  it  scarcely  suffers  by  comparison 
with  the  Treatise  de  Moribus  Germanorum  of  Tacitus. 

The  illustrious  tribe  of  Indians  whose  character  it  portrays, 
will  be  handed  down  to  posterity  by  his  pen,  and  the  people  of 
our  state  in  future  ages,  will  delight  to  trace  the  grand  and  com- 
manding characteristics  of  the  Romans  of  the  western  world. 
His  Discourse  before  the  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society, 
furnishes  abundant  evidence  of  his  multifarious  reading  and  extent 
of  erudition.  In  it  he  not  only  traces  the  present  condition  of 
the  sciences,  but  points  out  to  the  studious  and  ambitious,  the 
means  by  which  future  investigations  may  be  rendered  productive 
and  successful.  By  his  example  and  agency  a  salutary  influence 
has  been  exerted  upon  the  literature  and  science  of  our  city,  and 
already  begin  to  dawn  upon  our  horizon  the  gleams  of  day,  which, 
we  trust,  will  be  followed  by  an  effulgence  of  light  and  glory.  In 
1807  was  incorporated  the  Academy  of  Arts.  From  this  period 
there  have  gradually  arisen  amongst  us  both  a  taste  and  talent 
for  the  fine  arts,  especially  painting  and  architecture.  I  need 
scarcely  add  that  Mr.  Clinton  gave  to  this  institution  his  aid  and 
patronage.  He  succeeded  the  venerable  Chancellor  Livingston 
as  the  president  of  this  institution,  and  pronounced  a  Discourse 
in  its  behalf,  which  may  be  deemed  almost  equal,  as  a  matter 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


77 


of  composition,  to  any  of  his  writings  on  any  subject.  In 
noticing  the  difficulties  of  the  institution,  he  points  out  numerous 
subjects  suited  to  elicit  the  talents  of  the  painter,  the  statuary 
and  the  engraver,  as  calculated  to  adorn  the  halls  of  justice,  the 
edifices  of  learning,  and  the  temples  of  religion. 

He  then  points  out  the  benefits  to  be  derived  to  the  arts  them- 
selves, as  well  as  in  diffusing  a  taste  for  their  cultivation,  by 
concentrating  in  one  great  institution  the  best  models  of  ancient 
and  modern  art,  and  the  most  distinguished  specimens  of  all  that 
can  occupy  the  genius,  or  improve  the  taste  of  our  country. 

His  Eulogy  on  Chancellor  Livingston  and  Robert  Fulton,  also 
contained  in  that  excellent  Discourse,  is  brief  but  spirited,  and 
holds  up  the  active  enterprise  of  those  highly-gifted  individuals, 
as  worthy  of  imitation  by  all  future  candidates  for  fame  and 
distinction.  I  may  be  permitted  to  embody  in  these  Memoirs 
an  extract  from  this  address  touching  the  character  of  these 
eminent  men. 

"We  have  thus  seen  Mr.  L.  converting  the  lessons  of  his  expe- 
rience and  observation  into  sources  of  practical  and  general  utility. 
He  was  not  one  of  those  remote  suns,  whose  light  and  heat  have 
not  yet  reached  our  planetary  system.  His  object,  his  ambition, 
his  study,  was  to  do  the  greatest  good  to  the  greatest  number. 
There  is  no  doubt  but  that  he  felt  the  extent  of  his  own  powers, 
and  the  plenitude  of  his  own  resources ;  but  he  bore  his  faculties 
meekly  about  him,  never  offending  the  pride  or  the  delicacy  of 
his  associates  by  arrogance,  or  by  intrusion,  by  neglect,  or  by 
slight,  by  acting  the  oracle  or  dictator.  He  was  an  eminent 
arbiter  elegantiarum.  or  judge  of  propriety;  his  conversation  was 
unpremeditated ;  it  abounded  with  brilliant  wit,  with  apposite 
illustrations,  and  with  various  and  extended  knowledge,  always 

8 


78 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


as  gentle  as  '  zephyrs  blowing  below  the  violet,'  and  always 
exhibiting  the  overflowings  of  a  fertile  mind.  His  great  qualities 
were  attended  with  a  due  sense  of  his  own  imperfections,  and 
of  his  limited  powers.  He  did  not  see  in  himself  the  tortoise  of 
the  Indian,  or  the  atlas  of  the  heathen  mythology,  sustaining  the 
universe.  Nor  did  he  keep  himself  at  an  awful  distance,  wrapped 
up  in  gloomy  abstraction,  or  veiled  in  mysterious  or  supercilious 
dignity.  He  knew  that  the  fraternity  of  mankind  is  a  vast  assem- 
blage of  good  and  evil,  of  light  and  darkness,  and  that  the  whole 
chain  of  human  being  is  connected  by  the  charities  of  life,  by 
the  ties  of  mutual  dependence,  and  reciprocal  benevolence.  Such 
was  Robert  R.  Livingston.  He  was  not  one  of  those  factitious 
characters,  who  rise  up  and  disappear  like  the  mountains  of  sand 
which  the  wind  raises  in  the  deserts;  nor  did  he  pretend  to  possess 
a  mind  illuminating  all  the  departments  of  knowledge,  like  that 
great  elementary  substance  which  communicates  the  principle 
of  vitality  to  all  animated  nature :  but  he  will  be  ranked,  by  the 
judgment  of  impartial  posterity,  among  the  great,  men  of  the 
revolution;  and  in  the  faithful  pages  of  history,  he  will  be  classed 
with  George  Clinton,  John  Jay,  Pierre  Van  Cortlandt,  Philip 
Schuyler,  William  Floyd,  Philip  Livingston,  Gouverneur  Morris, 
James  Duane,  John  Morin  Scott,  and  the  other  venerable  and 
conscript  fathers  of  the  state. 

"Fortunately  for  the  interests  of  mankind,  Mr.  L.  became 
acquainted  with  Robert  Fulton,  a  self-created  great  man,  who 
has  risen  into  distinguished  usefulness,  and  into  exalted  eminence, 
by  the  energies  of  his  own  genius,  unsupported  by  extrinsic 
advantages. 

"  Mr.  F.  had  directed  the  whole  force  of  his  mind  to  mathe- 
matical learning  and  to  mechanical  philosophy.    Plans  of  defence 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


79 


against  maritime  invasion  and  of  sub-aquatic  navigation  had 
occupied  his  reflections.  During  the  late  war  he  was  the  Archi- 
medes of  his  country. 

"  The  poet  was  considered  under  the  influence  of  a  disordered 
imagination  when  he  exclaimed, 

"  Soon  shall  thy  arm,  unconquer'd  steam  !  afar 

Drag  the  slow  barge  or  drive  the  rapid  car, 

Or  on  wide-waving  wings  expanded  bear 

The  flying  chariot  through  the  fields  of  air." — Dartnin. 

"The  connexion  between  Livingston  and  Fulton  realized,  to 
a  great  degree,  the  vision  of  the  poet.  All  former  experiments 
had  failed,  and  the  genius  of  Fulton,  aided  and  fostered  by  the 
public  spirit  and  discernment  of  Livingston,  created  one  of  the 
greatest  accommodations  for  the  benefit  of  mankind.  These 
illustrious  men  will  be  considered,  through  all  time,  as  the  bene- 
factors of  the  world — they  will  be  emphatically  hailed  as  the  Castor 
and  Pollux  of  antiquity — lucida  sidera — stars  of  excellent  light 
and  of  most  benign  influence. 

"  Mr.  Fulton  was  personally  well  known  to  most  who  hear  me. 
To  those  who  were  favoured  with  the  high  communion  of  his 
superior  mind,  I  need  not  expatiate  on  the  wonderful  vivacity, 
activity,  comprehension,  and  clearness  of  his  intellectual  faculties  : 
and  while  he  was  meditating  plans  of  mighty  import  for  his  future 
fame  and  his  country's  good,  he  was  cut  down  in  the  prime  of 
his  life  and  in  the  midst  of  his  usefulness.  Like  the  self-burning 
tree  of  Gambia,  he  was  destroyed  by  the  fire  of  his  own  genius, 
and  the  never-ceasing  activity  of  a  vigorous  mind.  And  O !  may 
we  not  humbly  hope  that  his  immortal  spirit,  disembodied  from 
its  material  incumbrance,  has  taken  its  flight  to  the  world  of 


80 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


pure  intellect.  '  where  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling,  and  where 
the  weary  are  at  rest.' " 

Mr.  Clinton's  Discourse  delivered  in  1823  at  Union  College, 
at  the  request  of  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society  attached  to  that 
institution,  also  affords,  in  the  language  of  an  elegant  eulogist, 
"  a  splendid  evidence  of  the  inexhaustible  riches  of  his  mind."* 
In  that  exercise  he  enforces  with  all  the  feelings  of  enthusiasm, 
the  cultivation  of  liberal  studies  on  the  minds  of  the  aspiring 
youth,  whom  he  addressed  on  that  interesting  occasion.  "It  is 
an  ordinance  of  Heaven,"  says  he,  "  that  man  must  be  employed 
or  be  unhappy.  Mental  or  corporeal  labour  is  the  destination  of 
his  nature;  and  when  he  ceases  to  be  active,  he  ceases  to  be 
useful,  and  descends  to  the  level  of  vegetable  life :  and  certainly 
those  pursuits  which  call  into  activity  his  intellectual  powers,  must 
contribute  most  to  his  felicity,  his  dignity,  and  his  usefulness. 
The  vigorous  direction  of  an  active  mind  to  the  accomplishment 
of  good  objects,  forms  its  most  extatic  delights." 

The  advantages  which  a  free  government  offers  above  all 
others  to  a  laudable  ambition  are  there  pointed  out,  and  illustrated 
by  a  reference  to  the  classical  states  of  antiquity,  and  to  the  brief 
history  of  our  own  nation.  This  Discourse  of  Mr.  Clinton  no 
less  abounds  in  felicitous  aphorisms  upon  the  importance  of 
education,  and  the  resources  which  it  furnishes  at  every  period, 
and  in  all  the  various  circumstances  of  our  lives.  I  cannot 
withhold  his  eloquent  remarks  on  this  interesting  theme. 

"Whatever  may  be  our  thoughts,  our  words,  our  writings,  or 
our  actions,  let  them  all  be  subservient  to  the  promotion  of  science 


*  Judge  Conkling. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


SI 


and  the  prosperity  of  our  country.  Pleasure  is  a  shadow,  wealth 
is  vanity,  and  power  a  pageant ;  but  knowledge  is  extatic  in  enjoy- 
ment, perennial  in  fame,  unlimited  in  space,  and  infinite  in  duration. 
In  the  performance  of  its  sacred  offices  it  fears  no  danger,  spares 
no  expense,  omits  no  exertion.  It  scales  the  mountain,  .looks 
into  the  volcano,  dives  into  the  ocean,  perforates  the  earth,  wings 
its  flight  into  the  skies,  encircles  the  globo,  explores  sea  and  land, 
contemplates  the  distant,  examines  the  minute,  comprehends  the 
great,  and  ascends  to  the  sublime :  no  place  too  remote  for  its 
grasp,  no  heavens  too  exalted  for  its  reach." 

The  papers  of  Mr.  Clinton  being  exclusively  reserved  for  the 
use  of  the  gentleman  who,  from  his  acknowledged  abilities  and 
learning,  has  been  most  judiciously  selected  as  his  biographer,*  I 
cannot  speak  of  his  last  public  Discourse,  that  which  was  delivered 
in  1826  to  the  alumni  of  Columbia  College,  his  alma  mater,  and 
which  has  not  yet  been  committed  to  the  press.  One  of  the  last 
acts  of  public  duty  performed  by  Mr.  Clinton  in  his  capacity  as 
Governor,  was  his  letter  addressed,  a  day  or  two  before  his  death, 
to  the  judge  of  the  District  Court  of  this  city.  That  communication 
related  to  what  was  deemed  by  the  Governor  an  irregular  inter- 
position of  the  court,  in  arresting  the  execution  of  the  law  on  a 
criminal  condemned  to  death  for  murder,  after  the  Governor,  with 
whom  the  power  of  reprieve  or  of  pardoning  is  exclusively  lodged 
In  the  constitution,  had  declined  interference  with  the  execution 
of  the  sentence. 

In  that  document,  Governor  Clinton's  sagacity  in  detecting  and 


*  The  Honourable  John  C.  Spencer. 


82 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


exposing  what  he  considered  the  fallacious  argument  of  the 
judge  and  of  the  court,  as  well  as  the  vigour  he  evinced  in  main- 
taining his  official  authority,  are  considered  as  no  less  manifest 
than  the  clear  and  lucid  style  in  which  his  exposition  is  conveyed. 
By  most  of  his  friends  it  was  deemed  one  of  his  ablest  productions, 
and  believed  to  convey  the  most  correct  and  satisfactory  view 
of  the  subject  to  which  it  relates.* 

On  the  memorable  13th  day  of  March,  1810,  by  a  resolution 
of  the  senate  of  this  state,  on  motion  of  the  Honourable  Jonas 
Piatt,  then  a  member  of  that  body,  Mr.  Clinton  was  unanimously 
appointed  one  of  the  commissioners  for  "  exploring  the  route  of 
an  inland  navigation,  from  Hudson's  river  to  Lake  Ontario  and 
to  Lake  Erie."  On  the  15th  of  March,  the  same  resolution 
received  the  concurrence  of  the  assembly  and  became  a  law.  This 
event  naturally  leads  me  to  offer  a  few  preliminary  remarks  con- 
nected with  the  important  subject  of  canal  navigation. 

Few  objects  of  internal  policy  have  so  much  called  forth  the 
powers  and  resources  of  a  country  as  canals :  the.  comparative 
cheapness  of  conveyance,  the  easy  and  secure  communication 
which  they  afford,  the  advantages  they  possess  in  improving  and 
equalizing  the  value  of  countries  remote  from,  as  well  as  those 
in  the  vicinity  of  large  cities  and  towns,  render  canals  the  greatest 
of  all  improvements:  accordingly  we  find  the  utility  of  canal 
communication  has  been  acknowledged  by  the  wisest  states  of 
antiquity,  no  less  than  by  the  most  enlightened  modern  nations.  The 
high  rank  which  Egypt  assumed  and  maintained  in  former  ages, 


*  See  Appendix,  M. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


83 


was  scarcely  less  due  to  her  numerous  canals,  than  to  the  fertility 
of  her  soil.  Determined  to  avail  herself  of  all  the  transcendant 
advantages  of  the  Nile,  she  added  no  less  than  eighty  canals, 
by  which  its  waters  might  afford  facilities  to  communication 
through  every  part  of  her  territory.  The  Chinese,  according  to 
the  testimony  of  the  best  writers,  are  still  more  alive  to  the 
value  of  this  artificial  species  of  navigation.  Throughout  that 
immense  empire  there  is  scarcely  a  town  or  a  village  which  has 
not  the  advantage  either  of  an  arm  of  the  sea,  or  a  canal,  as  the 
means  of  communication:  and  to  these  numerous  canals  may  be 
fairly  attributed  a  great  part  of  the  riches  of  that  remarkable 
nation.  By  her  great  canal,  by  some  stated  to  be  upwards  of 
1200  miles  in  extent,  she  is  enabled  to  enforce  and  perpetuate  her 
exclusive  policy  of  avoiding  all  connexion  with  foreign  nations, 
save  only  so  far  as  they  may  contribute  to  her  wealth  and  ad- 
vantage. 

Russia,  Sweden,  Holland,  France,  but  above  all  Great  Britain, 
have  expended  enormous  sums  with  a  view  to  this  object,  and 
are  still  proceeding  with  ardour  and  spirit.  This  latter  nation, 
indeed,  has  within  a  few  years  exceeded  all  other  people  in  the 
spirit  of  industry  and  zeal  with  which  she  has  entered  on  this 
most  important  field  of  enterprise;  more  than  2400  miles  of  canal 
navigation  bespeak  her  opulence  and  resources. 

Nor  has  our  own  country  been  insensible  to  its  value.  Virginia, 
Pennsylvania,  Massachusetts,  and  Maryland,  have  honourably 
distinguished  themselves  in  this  laudable  career.  But  it  was  the 
destiny  of  our  own  state  to  set  the  first  brilliant  and  effective 
example  to  her  sister  members  of  the  union,  and  by  the  vigour, 
spirit,  and  munificence  of  her  enterprise,  to  excite  the  astonish- 
ment, and  to  receive  the  acclamations  of  mankind.    A  celebrated 


84 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


British  writer  thus  strongly  expresses  himself  on  this  interesting 
theme.  "America,  blessed  with  every  climate,  capable  of  every 
production,  abounding  with  the  best  harbours  and  rivers  on  the 
globe,  overspread  with  a  population  of  more  than  eleven  millions 
of  inhabitants,  what  may  not  be  expected?  the  partial  hand  of 
nature  has  laid  off  America  on  a  much  larger  scale  than  any  other 
part  of  the  world :  the  map  of  the  world  cannot  exhibit  a  country 
uniting  so  many  natural  advantages  so  pleasingly  diversified,  and 
that  offers  such  abundant  and  easy  resources  to  agriculture  and 
commerce.  In  contemplating  future  America,  the  mind  is  lost  in 
the  din  of  cities,  in  harbours  and  rivers  clouded  with  sails,  and 
in  the  immensity  of  her  population."* 

In  noticing  this  great  event,  this  era  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Clinton, 
and  which  will  ever  be  identified  with  his  fame,  posterity  will 
demand  a  minute  detail  of  the  commencement,  tjie^kbgress,  and 
the  completion  of  an  undertaking  that  ranks  among  the  most 
important  that  has  been  effected  in  any  age  or  in  any  country. 
Posterity  will  look  back  to  the  authors  of  the  blessings  and  the 
benefits,  which  this  great  event  has  secured  to  this  state  and 
nation. 

The  question  then  here  naturally  presents  itself,  who  first  projected 
the  system  of  inland  navigation  from  the  Lakes  to  the  Hudson  and 
the  Atlantic  Ocean?  and  who  were  the  instruments  of  its  accom- 
plishment? In  replying  to  these  important  inquiries,  I  am  fully 
aware  of  the  delicacy  of  the  task  before  me. 

The  claimants  to  this  honour  are  numerous  and  respectable, 
and  the  claims  of  each  to  a  certain  extent  founded  in  justice. 


*  Tatbam's  Political  Economy  of  Inland  Navigation,  4to.  London. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


85 


While  the  minute  details  upon  this  subject  are  passed  over  as  out 
of  place  upon  the  present  occasion,  I  trust  it  will  not  be  uninter- 
esting to  this  intelligent  assembly,  to  advert  to  a  brief  sketch  of 
the  most  interesting  facts  which  this  examination  has  enabled 
me  to  develope,  some  of  which,  it  will  be  found,  have  hitherto 
been  totally  overlooked  in  the  public  communications  that  have 
appeared  upon  this  subject.  In  viewing  the  origin  and  progress 
of  this  great  achievement,  our  attention  is  drawn  to  its  numerous 
friends,  who  have  in  various  capacities  contributed  to  its  accom- 
plishment. But  in  order  that  each  of  the  numerous  benefactors 
to  this  work  may  have  his  due  share  of  praise,  proportioned  to 
the  services  he  has  rendered,  it  is  proposed  to  divide  them  into 
various  classes,  designating  the  nature,  character,  and  extent  of 
those  services.  I  am  fully  sensible  that  fame  has  given  to  some 
a  degree  of  reputation  to  which  they  are  not  entitled  to  the  extent 
in  which  it  has  been  bestowed;  while  to  others  much  is  due  for 
the  assistance  they  have  rendered  in  the  accomplishment  of  this 
important  work,  and  whose  contributions  are  comparatively  little 
known  to  the  world,  or  have  been  but  imperfectly  acknowledged : 
so  far,  therefore,  as  laborious  inquiry  has  enabled  me  to  ascertain 
the  facts  now  to  be  related,  distributive  justice,  the  "  suum  cuique 
tribuito,"  shall  be  most  strictly  and  impartially  observed. 

"  Amicus  Plato — amicus  Socrates — sed  magis  arnica  Veritas." 

The  contributors  to  canal  navigation  in  the  state  of  New-York, 
may  be  considered  as  consisting  of  four  great  classes :  in  the 
first,  may  be  enumerated  those  foreseeing  and  predicting  from 
the  general  face  of  the  country,  the  union  of  the  lakes,  the  creeks 
and  rivers  of  the  west,  by  measures  calculated  to  remove  obstruc- 

9 


86 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


tions,  improve  the  natural  navigation  then  existing,  and  ultimately, 
by  different  outlets,  to  connect  the  same  with  the  ocean.  In  this 
class  the  names  of  Cadwallader  Colden,  Sir  Henry  Moore,  George 
Washington,  George  Clinton,  and  Gouverneur  Morris,  are  promi- 
nent. In  the  second  class,  are  to  be  noticed  those  who  proposed 
by  artificial  navigation,  or  canals,  to  form  a  connexion  between  the 
waters  of  the  Hudson  and  Lake  Ontario,  Lake  Erie,  or  both. 
Christopher  Colles,  Jeffrey  Smith,  Elkanah  Watson,  Philip 
Schuyler,  Jesse  Hawley,  and  Joshua  Foreman,  deserve  the  most 
honourable  mention  in  this  place.  Thirdly,  those  who  in  the 
memorable  year  1810,  have  been  chiefly  instrumental  in  effecting 
a  direct  internal  communication  between  Lake  Erie  and  the 
Atlantic.  In  this  class  Thomas  Eddy,  Jonas  Piatt,  and  De  Witt 
Clinton  stand  conspicuous.  Fourthly,  another  class  of  benefactors 
to  this  great  work,  is  composed  of  numerous  members  of  both 
houses  of  the  legislature,  who  took  a  prominent  station  in  devising 
and  sustaining  the  measures  necessary  to  carry  the  same  into 
effect;  the  various  canal  commissioners,  engineers,  surveyors,  and 
many  private  but  public-spirited  citizens  in  various  parts  of  the 
state,  who  have  zealously  given  their  personal  attentions  and 
services  to  this  herculean  undertaking,  and  to  whom  too  much 
praise  cannot  be  ascribed :  so  great  is  the  number  composing 
this  class,  that  I  am  compelled  at  this  time  to  forbear  from  their 
enumeration.  The  commissioners  of  the  canal  fund,  as  distin- 
guished from  that  of  canal  commissioners,  and  composed  of  the 
lieutenant  governor,  the  comptroller,  the  attorney  general,  the 
surveyor  general,  the  secretary  and  treasurer,  to  whose  special  care 
are  committed  the  regulations  of  the  tolls  and  other  circumstances 
relating  to  the  government  of  the  canal,  are  entitled  to  high  appro- 
bation for  their  intelligent  and  faithful  discharge  of  the  duties 


fnnlrJ.     IT./fuIr  HI' 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


87 


assigned  them.  To  all  these  different  classes  of  coadjutors,  may 
be  ascribed  a  high  and  enviable  measure  of  applause. 

The  sagacity  of  some  in  early  perceiving  the  practicability  and 
utility  of  the  inland  communication ;  the  diligence  and  zeal  of 
others  in  unremitted  exertions  to  accomplish  it;  and  the  devotion 
and  sacrifices  of  all  to  its  completion,  will  be  remembered  by  their 
successors  with  everlasting  gratitude.  While  other  nations  attach 
the  greatest  value  to  military  glory,  boast  of  their  blood-stained 
fields,  and  erect  their  proudest  monuments  to  their  heroes  on  the 
field  of  battle,  our  commonwealth  will  point  to  her  soil  that  has 
been  subdued  and  appropriated  by  the  skill  and  toil  of  its  inhabi- 
tants, to  their  use  and  happiness. 

No  event  in  our  history  has  received  a  warmer  eulogium  from 
Europe,  and  no  circumstance  has  tended  to  bind  together  more 
closely  our  confederacy.  Already  a  generous  emulation  has 
extended  throughout  our  union,  a  spirit  and  zeal  alike  honourable 
and  beneficial  to  the  nation;  all  sectional  interests  and  party 
feelings,  it  is  hoped,  will  hereafter  yield  to  schemes  of  ambition, 
in  which  all  may  unite,  and  all  partake  of  the  triumph.  Passing 
over  the  early  views  which  the  face  of  the  country  suggested 
to  the  first  settlers  and  traders  who  successively  occupied  the 
northern  and  western  parts  of  this  state,  it  may  be  remarked, 
that  Cadwallader  Colden,  the  surveyor  general  of  the  province 
of  New-York,  afterwards  elevated  to  the  office  of  its  Lieutenant 
Governor,  our  acknowledgments  are  due  as  among  the  first  to 
foresee  and  predict  the  great  results  that  have  been  realized.  He 
appears,  at  the  very  early  period  of  1724,  to  have  conceived  the 
grand  and  elevated  scheme  of  internal  improvement,  in  some 
degree  corresponding  with  that  which  has  been  adopted  and 
carried  into  operation :  for  even  at  that  time  his  views  embraced 


ss 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


a  line  of  communication  from  the  Hudson  by  the  lakes  to  the 
Mississippi  and  the  ocean.  In  his  report  on  the  fur  trade, 
addressed  to  his  excellency  William  Burnet,  Governor  of  the 
province,  after  noticing  the  commercial  establishments  at  Quebec 
and  Montreal,  and  their  trade  with  Schenectady  and  Albany,  he 
points  out  the  superior  advantages  arising  from  a  more  southern 
and  western  intercourse  between  the  colony  and  the  Indian 
traders,  by  means  of  the  lakes  and  the  other  water  communi- 
cations of  that  country,  and  describes  with  minute  accuracy  the 
various  stages  of  its  progress,  designating  the  passage  from  Albany 
to  Lake  Ontario  by  the  Mohawk,  Oneida,  and  Onondaga  rivers, 
as  preferable  to  the  usual  line  of  transportation  then  pursued  bv  the 
Hudson,  Lake  Champlain,  Montreal,  and  the  St.  Lawrence,  adding 
in  his  emphatic  language,  "  that  by  means  of  the  Mississippi  and 
the  lakes,  there  is  opened  such  a  scene  of  inland  navigation  that 
cannot  be  paralleled  in  any  other  part  of  the  world."* 

His  long  study  of  the  topography  of  this  state,  his  minute  and 
extensive  knowledge  of  the  country,  entitle  him  to-  the  highest 
praise,  as  it  shows  that  his  views  were  founded  on  practical 
observation,  and  were  not  the  mere  suggestions  of  a  visionary 
projector.  To  him  our  state  is  moreover  highly  indebted  as  an 
early  and  ardent  cultivator  of  letters. 

He  may  not  indeed  inaptly  be  denominated  the  pioneer  of 
literature  and  science  in  our  state,  and  by  means  of  his  extensive 
correspondence  with  the  distinguished  literati  of  Europe,  among 
whom  the  names  of  Linnaeus,  Gronovius,  Collinson,  Whyte, 
Porterfield,  and  others,  may  be  enumerated,  of  transferring  to 


*  See  Appendix,  N. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


89 


our  shores  a  portion  of  the  same  spirit  by  which  they  were 
actuated. 

In  the  language  of  a  late  writer*  on  the  subject  of  the  great 
western  canal, — "It  must  be  within  the  memory  of  those  who 
are  natives  of  the  state,  and  of  sufficient  age  to  recollect  ancient 
facts,  that  the  improvement  of  the  inland  navigation  of  the 
province,  while  yet  a  colony  of  Great  Britain,  was  a  favourite 
subject  of  conversation  with  our  ancestors ;  and  there  are  many 
now  living,  who  can  recollect  that  their  fathers  spoke  with  fond 
anticipations  of  the  intercourse  which  would  take  place  at  a  future 
day  with  the  western  country,  by  means  of  inland  navigation  after 
the  manner  of  the  Netherlands :  among  others,  Peter  Van  Burgh 
Livingston,  and  Philip  Livingston,!  made  frequent  observations 
on  the  subject,  after  the  return  of  one  of  the  brothers  from  the 
Netherlands  about  the  year  1738.  Their  father,  Philip  Living- 
ston, Esq.  of  the  manor  of  Livingston,  resided  for  many  years  at 
Albany,  and  was  the  most  eminent  in  the  Indian  trade  there." 

The  same  author  proceeds  to  observe,  that  "  the  French 
government  of  Canada  very  early  attempted  to  prevent  our  par- 
ticipation in  the  Indian  trade,  by  their  establishments  on  Lake 
Ontario,  at  Fort  Frontinac  in  the  year  1672,  and  at  Fort  Niagara 


*  See  "  Facts  and  Observations  in  relation  to  the  origin  and  completion  of  the  Erie 
Canal,"  1825. 

t  "  Peter  Van  Burgh  Livingston  was  President  of  the  provincial  congress  of  New-York 
in  the  year  1775,  and  died  some  years  after  at  an  advanced  age.  Philip  Livingston  was 
appointed  a  member  of  the  continental  congress  for  New- York  in  the  year  1774,  and  con- 
tinued in  that  station  until  his  death  in  1778,  at  York  Town,  Pennsylvania,  where  congress 
was  then  sitting.  Among  his  descendants,  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  president  of  the 
canal  commissioners,  and  Edward  P.  Livingston,  of  Clermont,  are  two  of  his  grandsons." 


90 


MEMOIR  OP  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


in  the  year  1725,  and  on  Lake  Champlain,  by  their  Fort  St. 
Frederick,  built  near  Crown  Point  in  the  year  1731.  Our  favourite 
route,  therefore,  was  by  the  portages  of  the  Mohawk  and  Wood 
Creek,  partly  to  Oswego,  but  chiefly  by  the  Onondaga  and  Seneca 
rivers,  to  the  country  of  several  of  the  Six  Nations,  then  a  populous 
and  powerful  confederacy,  and  uniformly  our  faithful  allies  against 
our  hostile  neighbours  the  French.  This  country  of  the  Six 
Nations  approached  by  the  Onondaga  and  Seneca  rivers,  and 
Mud  Creek,  embraced  the  shores  of  the  Genesee  river,  the 
Canandaigua,  Seneca,  Cayuga,  and  other  small  lakes,  was  the 
seat  of  a  very  valuable  trade,  and  was  frequently  visited  by  the 
traders  of  Albany  and  Schenectady." 

After  the  treaty  of  Paris  in  1763,  the  improvement  of  our  inland 
navigation  attracted  the  attention  of  the  colonial  government  of 
New- York,  still  further  than  it  had  done  in  the  days  of  Governor 
Burnet. 

On  the  16th  of  December,  1768,  Sir  Henry  Moore,  then 
Governor  of  the  province,  in  a  message  to  the  colonial  legislature, 
stated,  that  "the  great  inconvenience  and  delay,  together  with 
the  expense  attending  the  transport  of  goods  at  the  carrying 
places,  have  considerably  diminished  the  profits  of, the  traders, 
and  called  for  the  aid  of  the  legislature,  which  if  not  timely  exerted 
in  their  behalf,  the  commerce  with  the  interior  parts  of  the  country 
may  be  diverted  into  such  channels  as  to  deprive  this  colony  of 
every  advantage  which  could  arise  from  it."  The  Governor,  there- 
fore, recommended  to  the  house  of  assembly,  44  the  improvement 
of  our  inland  navigation  as  a  matter  of  the  greatest  importance 
to  the  province,  and  worthy  of  their  serious  consideration."  And 
further  recommends,  that  the  obstructions  in  the  navigation  of  the 
Mohawk  river,  between  Schenectady  and  Fort  Stanwix,  be  remedied 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


9] 


by  sluices  on  the  plan  of  the  canal  of  Languedoc.  The  house  of 
assembly  immediately  referred  this  message  to  the  consideration 
of  a  committee  of  the  whole  house,  and  continued  to  act  on  a 
subject  of  much  importance  to  them,  "of  drawing  up  proper  and 
constitutional  resolves,  asserting  the  rights  of  his  majesty's  subjects 
within  the  colony,  which  they  conceive  have  been  greatly  abridged 
and  infringed  by  several  acts  passed  by  the  last  parliament  of 
Great  Britain."  These  resolves  were  the  subject  of  long  and 
frequent  discussions,  and  finally,  passed  the  house  on  the  31st  of 
December.  The  Governor  on  the  3d  of  the  ensuing  month, 
required  the  immediate  attendance  of  the  assembly  in  the  council 
chamber,  when  by  virtue  of  his  prerogative,  he  dissolved  the 
house,  and  the  proposition  of  our  inland  navigation,  with  other 
business,  was  not  acted  upon.  Hence  it  appears  that  the  im- 
provement of  our  inland  navigation  at  the  carrying  places,  and 
the  commerce  with  the  interior  parts  of  the  country,  were  subjects 
which  engaged  the  public  attention  sometime  before  the  revolu- 
tionary war.*  The  interesting  presages,  the  luminous  views  of 
Gouverneur  Morris  as  early  as  1777,  and  still  more  amply 
expressed  in  1800,  relative  to  the  communications  which  he 
confidently  anticipated  between  the  Hudson  and  the  lakes,  also 
merit  our  notice.f 

The  fame  of  the  illustrious  Washington  receives  new  laurels 
from  his  early  attention  to  the  important  subject  of  internal  navi- 
gation, both  anterior  and  subsequent  to  the  great  revolutionary 
contest.    He  took  a  wide  and  extensive  survey  of  the  benefits  to 


*  See  Facts  and  Observations  on  the  Erie  Canal. 


92 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


result  from  an  intimate  connexion  of  the  eastern  and  western 
portions  of  our  country. 

In  1784,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  Mr.  Harrison,*  then  Governor 
of  Virginia,  he  recommends  that  commissioners  be  appointed 
to  search  the  nearest  portages  between  the  rivers  James  and 
Potomac,  and  the  streams  which  run  into  the  Ohio,  and  with  the 
view  of  directing  the  trade  into  those  channels,  which  otherwise 
he  anticipated  would  at  no  distant  period  be  attracted  to  the  state 
of  New- York;  he  was  no  less  urgent  on  the  leading  members  of 
the  legislature  of  Maryland,  to  obtain  their  co-operation  and  aid. 

I  should  now  proceed  to  notice  the  useful  labours  and  enterprise 
of  Christopher  Colles  in  1784 ;  as  well  as  the  early  suggestions 
of  Jeffrey  Smith,  a  member  of  the  assembly,  from  Suffolk  County, 
Long-Island,  who  on  the  17th  March,  1786,  introduced  a  bill 
entitled,  "  an  act  for  improving  the  navigation  of  the  Mohawk 
river,  Wood  Creek,  and  the  Onondaga  river,  with  a  view  of 
opening  an  inland  navigation  to  Oswego,  and  for  extending  the 
same,  if  practicable,  to  Lake  Erie."  Such  was  the  language  of 
the  bill  proposed  as  early  as  1786,  and  which  was  discussed 
in  committee  of  the  whole  four  times  during  that  session;!  an 
event  most  strangely  overlooked  by  all  who  have  written  on  canal 
navigation ;  not  excepting  those  gentleman  who  were  delegated 
by  the  legislature  to  collect  all  the  public  acts  and  documents 
connected  with,  and  requisite  for,  a  complete  official  history  of 
the  Erie  and  Champlain  canals.  I  should  also  at  this  time  notice 
the  early  views  of  George  Clinton,{  communicated  in  his  speech 


*  See  Appendix,  P. 


f  See  Appendix,  Q. 


X  See  Appendix,  R. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


93 


to  the  legislature  in  1791,  his  correspondence  with  General  Wash- 
ington, and  the  legislative  act  of  the  same  year,  directing  the 
grounds  between  the  Mohawk  river  and  Wood  Creek,  in  Herkimer, 
now  Oneida  county,  and  between  Hudson  River  and  Wood  Creek, 
in  Washington  county,  to  be  explored  and  surveyed,  and  an 
estimate  of  the  expense  of  making  canals  between  those  points." 
The  memorable  services  of  Elkanah  Watson  and  of  General  Philip 
Schuyler  in  1791,  and  the  passage  of  the  act  of  1792,  chiefly 
effected  by  their  instrumentality,  incorporating  the  western  and 
northern  inland  lock  navigation  companies,  the  former  to  improve 
the  navigation,  and  to  open  communications  by  canals  to  the 
Seneca  Lake  and  Lake  Ontario ;  the  latter  to  open  a  lock  navi- 
gation between  the  Hudson  and  Lake  Champlain,  should  also 
receive  our  special  attention.*  Connected  with  the  same  subject  is 
the  act  of  1798,  incorporating  the  Niagara  Company  for  the  purpose 
of  making  a  canal  with  locks  around  the  cataract  of  Niagara,  and 
thence  to  form  a  communication  between  the  Hudson,  Lake  Onta- 
rio, and  Lake  Erie,  but  which  was  never  carried  into  execution. 

The  valuable  Essays  of  Jesse  Hawley,  published  under  the 
signature  of  Hercules,t  in  the  Ontario  Messenger  in  1807,  recom- 
mending a  canal  from  Lake  Erie  to  the  Mohawk  river ;  the  effective 
report  of  Mr.  Gallatin,  in  the  same  year,  on  roads  and  canals  which 
was  proposed  agreeably  to  a  motion  presented  by  John  Quincy 
Adams,  then  a  member  of  the  senate  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
important  communication  of  Robert  Fulton  accompanying  the 
same,  present  themselves  to  our  respectful  attention.  The  still 
more  memorable  and  efficient  act  of  the  legislature  of  this  state, 
proposed  by  Joshua  Forman  in  18084  with  the  subsequent  and 
interesting  surveys  in  the  same  year,  directed  under  that  act,  and 


*  See  Appendix,  S.  f  See  Appendix,  T.  J  Sec  Appendix,  U. 

10 


94 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


effected  by  James  Geddes,  under  the  direction  of  that  able  and 
indefatigable  officer  Simeon  De  Witt,  the  surveyor  general,  whose 
highly  important  and  united  services  will  ever  be  appreciated  and 
gratefully  acknowledged,  and  which  first  established  the  practica- 
bility of  a  direct  canal  to  Erie  by  the  interior  route ;  the  valuable 
labours  of  the  Hon.  Peter  B.  Porter,*  in  his  celebrated  speech 
delivered  in  Congress  on  the  28th  of  February,  1810,  relative  to 
internal  improvements,  and  the  congressional  proceedings  arising 
out  of  the  same,  also  invite  our  special  notice.  But  upon  the 
present  occasion,  highly  important  as  they  are,  I  must  forbear  from 
occupying  the  time  of  this  assembly  with  the  details  to  which 
they  give  rise ;  nor  will  the  time  allotted  to  this  Discourse,  permit 
me  to  submit  to  you  the  new,  various,  and  important  facts  I  have 
been  enabled  to  collect  upon  this  deeply  interesting  theme.  I  shall 
therefore  proceed  without  delay  briefly  to  notice  the  memorable 
events  of  1810,  that  led  to  the  great  results  we  now  enjoy  in  the 
present  increasing  prosperity  of  the  state  of  New- York,  as  well  as 
their  effects  throughout  the  union,  and  which  have  conferred 
immortal  renown  upon  those  who  have  contributed  to  the  western 
and  northern  canals,  and  effected  their  completion. 

Notwithstanding  the  practical  skill,  intelligence,  and  enterprise, 
of  that  able  and  experienced  observer  Philip  Schuyler,  the  president 
of  the  western  inland  lock  navigation  company,  and  the  abilities 
and  unceasing  attention  of  the  late  Robert  Bowne  and  Thomas 
Eddy,  active  officers  in  the  same  institution,  the  interests  and 
utility  of  that  company  declined,  its  stocks  were  depreciated,  and 
its  resources  nearly  exhausted.  But  the  impression  made  was 
not  useless :  public  attention  was  partially  directed  to  the  impor- 
tance of  inland  navigation,  which  became  the  subject  of  repeated 


*  See  Appendix,  V. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


95 


conversations  between  Robert  Troup,  Alexander  Hamilton,* 
Gouverneur  Morris,  Robert  R.  Livingston,  Stephen  Van  Rens- 
selaer, Thomas  Eddy,  and  other  distinguished  citizens,  who  were 
in  habits  of  friendship  and  intimacy  with  General  Schuyler.  This 
depressed  and  exhausted  state  of  the  finances  of  that  institution, 
induced  the  directors,  and  especially  the  treasurer,  Mr.  Thomas 
Eddy,  who  was  the  chief  agent  in  conducting  the  concerns  of 
the  company,  to  direct  their  attention  to  the  means  of  its  resto- 
ration. Mr.  Eddy  after  much  reflection  upon  this  subject,  was 
induced  to  inquire  how  far  an  extension  of  the  inland  navigation, 
which  for  many  years  he  had  unsuccessfully  urged  upon  the 
company,  might  revive  the  interests  and  improve  the  pecuniary 
resources  of  the  institution.  Agreeably  to  his  written  memoranda 
in  my  possession,  the  result  of  this  inquiry  led  him  again  to  propose 
to  extend  this  navigation  by  means  of  canals  as  far  as  the  Seneca 
Lake.  It  may  be  remarked,  as  introductory  to  the  suggestions 
of  Mr.  Eddy,  that  he  had  been  familiarly  and  intimately  acquainted 
with  the  geography  and  topography  of  this  state,  and  its  western 
section  in  particular,  as  early  as  1793.  In  that  year  he  took  a 
journey  into  that  country,  in  order  to  be  present  at  a  treaty  which 
was  held  with  the  Indians  by  General  Schuyler  and  others,  at 
Fort  Stanwix,  as  commissioners  appointed  on  the  part  of  the 
state. 

Upon  another  occasion  he  accompanied  Mr.  William  Weston, 


*  General  Hamilton  was  so  deeply  impressed  with  the  idea,  that  at  no  distant  period  this 
country  would  be  deeply  engaged  in  the  construction  of  numerous  canals,  that  he  re- 
solved to  educate  one  of  his  sons  as  a  canal  engineer,  believing  that  he  could  not  be  destined 
to  a  more  honourable  and  useful  employment.  This  anecdote  I  have  received  from  his 
friend  Colonel  Troup. 


96 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


an  eminent  canal  engineer  from  England,  employed  by  the  lock 
navigation  company  in  exploring  the  country  from  Rome  to  Cayuga 
Lake  in  1796.  These  circumstances  gave  Mr.  Eddy  an  accurate 
and  detailed  knowledge  of  the  whole  face  of  the  country,  and 
induced  him  to  urge  upon  the  company  the  propriety  of  extending 
their  canal  navigation  from  Rome  to  Seneca  River. 

Mr.  Eddy  informed  me  that  the  views  he  entertained  upon  the 
subject  of  internal  navigation,  arose  in  his  mind  as  early  as  1793, 
and  were  the  subjects  of  conversation  with  General  Schuyler  and 
himself  upon  the  occasion  before  mentioned.  In  connexion  with  this 
subject,  I  well  remember  when  in  Scotland  in  April  1793,  on  a  visit 
to  the  late  celebrated  Dr.  Beattie  of  Marischal  College,  Aberdeen, 
to  have  conversed  with  him  relative  to  a  letter*  that  had  appeared  in 
the  Scotch  newspapers,  addressed  to  him  by  his  pupil  John  Kemp, 
then  professor  of  mathematics  and  natural  philosophy  in  Columbia 
College,  containing  some  suggestions  which  I  then  presumed 
Dr.  Kemp  had  derived  from  his  intimate  friend  General  Schuyler, 
relative  to  the  union  of  the  lakes  with  the  ocean,  and  the  probable 
beneficial  results  to  be  derived  from  those  improvements  which 
have  since  been  effected :  the  precise  course  of  the  water  com- 
munications then  contemplated  and  detailed  in  the  letter  of  Dr. 
Kemp  have  escaped  me.  That  those  suggestions  arose  out  of  the 
intercourse  between  Dr.  Kemp  and  General  Schuyler  is  not  im- 
probable ;  but  with  which  of  these  two  gentlemen  the  proposition 
first  arose,  I  have  not  yet  obtained  the  evidence :  for  it  is  well 
known  by  the  pupils  of  Dr.  Kemp,  that  canal  navigation  was  a 
favourite  subject  of  his  attention,  and  that  in  his  course  on  natural 


This  original  letter  may  perhaps  be  found  among  the  papers  left  by  Dr.  Beattie. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


97 


philosophy,  he  delivered  to  his  class  many  lectures  upon  the 
construction  of  locks  and  canals.  The  papers  of  General  Schuyler, 
or  perhaps  those  of  Dr.  Beattie,  may  throw  some  further  light 
upon  this  subject.  Mr.  Eddy  being  at  Albany  in  the  year  1810, 
it  occurred  to  him  that  possibly  the  legislature  might  be  induced 
to  appoint  commissioners  to  examine  and  explore  the  western  part 
of  the  state,  in  order  to  ascertain  the  practicability  of  extending  the 
canal  navigation,  and  to  estimate  the  expense  and  report  thereon. 
As  he  expressed  himself,  he  was  perfectly  convinced  if  such 
commissioners  were  appointed,  they  would  make  a  favourable 
report.  His  friend  Jonas  Piatt,  who  had  often  expressed  particular 
interest  on  the  subject  of  internal  improvements,  and  who  had 
also  by  his  residence  at  that  time  in  the  western  part  of  the 
state,  become  familiarly  acquainted  with  its  geography  and  topo- 
graphy, was  at  this  time  a  member  of  the  senate.  On  the  evening 
of  the  12th  March,  1810,  Thomas  Eddy*  called  on  Judge  Piatt 
and  communicated  to  him  the  foregoing  plan,  on  which  he  had 
never  previously  consulted  any  other  person.  He  proposed  to  the 
judge  to  use  his  endeavours  in  the  senate  to  procure  the  appoint- 
ment of  such  commissioners  to  explore  a  route  for  a  canal  from 
Oneida  Lake  to  Seneca  River,  with  a  view  to  authorise  the 
western  inland  lock  navigation  company  to  make  such  canal. 
After  hearing  a  full  exposition  of  the  plan  proposed  by  Mr.  Eddy, 
the  judge  replied,!  that  he  rejoiced  to  find  him  moving  in  that 
field  of  inquiry,  that  he  very  highly  approved  of  the  proposition, 
but  asked  as  the  map  of  the  state  lay  open  before  them,  why  not 
make  it  the  duty  of  the  commissioners  to  explore  the  country  as 


*  See  Appendix,  W. 


t  See  Appendix,  X. 


98 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


far  as  Lake  Erie,  in  order  to  ascertain  the  practicability  of  making 
a  complete  canal  from  thence  to  the  Hudson  ?  The  judge  added, 
that  he  feared  his  ideas  might  be  considered  by  Mr.  Eddy  as 
visionary  and  extravagant,  and  that  he  had  much  to  say  to  him 
on  that  subject.  He  then  exhibited  the  plan  which  this  conver- 
sation suggested,  of  instituting  a  board  of  commissioners,  without 
reference  to  the  western  inland  lork  navigation  company,  to 
examine  and  survey  the  whole  route  from  the  Hudson  to  Lake 
Ontario  and  to  Lake  Erie,  with  the  view  of  forming  a  canal 
independently  of  the  beds  of  rivers,  and  using  them  as  feeders 
merely.  Whether  the  canal  should  be  made  directly  to  Lake 
Erie,  without  descending  to,  and  ascending  from  Lake  Ontario, 
must  depend  on  the  result  of  the  surveys  and  the  estimate  of  the 
comparative  expense  and  their  relative  advantages ;  adding  his 
decided  conviction  that  no  private  corporation  was  adequate  to, 
or  ought  to  be  entrusted  with,  the  power  and  control  over  such 
an  important  object;  also  observing,  that  as  the  western  inland 
navigation  company  had  disappointed  public  expectation,  it  would 
be  inauspicious  to  present  any  project  which  should  be  subjected 
to  that  corporation. 

The  mind  of  Mr.  Eddy  was  startled  at  the  apparent  extravagance 
of  this  proposal,  and  he  expressed  his  fears  that  by  suggesting  so 
vast  an  undertaking,  canal  navigation  being  then  but  little  under- 
stood in  this  country,  the  legislature  might  condemn  the  whole  as 
visionary,  and  deem  it  altogether  unworthy  of  their  consideration: 
the  greater  part  of  the  night  was  consumed  in  the  discussion  of 
this  topic,  and  at  the  close  of  this  interview  it  was  agreed  that 
Judge  Piatt  should  prepare  a  joint  resolution,  conformable  to 
the  views  that  had  been  agreed  upon,  to  be  offered  to  both 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


!>!> 


branches  of  the  legislature,  and  that  he  should  present  the  same 
to  the  senate  on  the  succeeding  morning. 

They  then  selected  the  names  of  the  first  board  of  commis- 
sioners, endeavouring  to  unite  the  influence  of  the  two  great  politi- 
cal parties  which  at  that  time  divided  the  state,  and  to  combine 
talents,  influence,  wealth,  and  public  spirit,  in  constituting  such 
board.  The  commissioners  designated  were,  Gouverneur  Morris, 
Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  De  Witt  Clinton,  Simeon  De  Witt, 
William  North,  Thomas  Eddy,  and  Peter  B.  Porter*  As  Mr. 
Clinton  was  then  a  member  of  the  senate,  and  possessed  a  powerful 
influence  over  the  dominant  party,  it  was  considered  of  primary 
importance  to  submit  to  him  the  resolution  that  had  been  prepared, 
and  to  request  his  co-operation  in  support  of  the  plan  proposed. 
The  interview  with  Mr.  Clinton  was  held,  when  the  whole  plan, 
with  all  the  prominent  facts  and  considerations  connected  with 
it,  were  submitted  to  him :  he  listened  with  intense  interest,  and 
although  he  professed  to  be  in  a  great  measure  a  stranger  to  the 
western  interior  of  the  state,  and  had  given  but  little  attention 
to  the  subject  of  canal  navigation,  he  expressed  his  hearty  con- 
currence in  the  measures  proposed,  and  promised  them  his  cordial 
assistance.  I  need  not  add  with  what  fidelity  that  pledge  was 
redeemed  throughout  the  whole  course  of  events  that  followed. 

It  was  also  important  to  obtain  the  support  of  an  influential 
member  of  the  assembly.  The  Hon.  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer 
being  then  a  member  of  that  house,  Judge  Piatt  submitted  to 
him  the  proposed  resolution,  to  which  he  promptly  assented, 


*  See  laws  of  the  state  of  New- York  in  relation  to  the  Erie  and  Champlain  Canals, 
Vol.  I. 


100 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


promising  to  give  it  his  warmest  support  when  the  same  might 
be  introduced  into  the  assembly.  On  the  succeeding  day,  the  12th 
of  March,  the  resolution  was  accordingly  first  proposed  in  the 
senate,  and  was  introduced  with  an  appropriate  speech  by  Judge 
Piatt.  It  was  seconded  and  supported  by  De  Witt  Clinton,  and 
passed  unanimously.  The  concurrent  resolution  was  on  the  same 
day  unanimously  adopted  in  the  assembly.  From  this  time,  it  may 
be  added,  that  the  efforts  of  Thomas  Eddy  and  of  Judge  Piatt 
were  unremittingly  continued  throughout  the  whole  progress  of 
the  work  thus  auspiciously  begun ;  and  from  the  same  period, 
Mr.  Clinton  devoted  the  best  powers  of  his  vigorous  and  capacious 
mind  to  the  same  subject,  as  an  object  of  the  highest  public  utility, 
and  worthy  of  his  noblest  ambition. 

In  the  eloquent  language  of  the  able  editor  of  the  American,* 
who  professes  himself  at  no  time  to  have  been  the  admirer  of 
Mr.  Clinton's  political  career,  but  who  had  the  magnanimity  at 
his  decease,  to  bear  the  most  ample  testimony  to  his  merits  and 
services ;  "  in  the  great  work  of  internal  improvement,  he  persevered 
through  good  report  and  through  evil  report,  with  a  steadiness  of 
purpose  that  no  obstacle  could  divert,  and  when  all  the  elements 
were  in  commotion  around  him,  and  even  his  chosen  associates 
were  appalled :  he  alone,  like  Columbus  on  the  wide  waste  of 
waters  in  his  frail  bark  with  a  disheartened  and  unbelieving  crew, 
remained  firm,  self-poised,  and  unshaken.  Is  it  extravagant  or 
unjust  to  say,  that,  like  Columbus,  he  was  recompensed  by  opening 
new  worlds  to  our  intercourse — vast  regions,  which  the  canals  of 
New-York  must  be  the  means  of  subduing,  civilising,  enriching  ?" 


*  Charles  King,  Esq. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


101 


In  the  course  of  that  year  the  commissioners,  with  corresponding 
zeal  and  ability,  commenced  the  labours  assigned  them,  of  exploring 
the  surface  of  the  country,  with  the  lakes  and  rivers  connected 
with  the  great  design  ;  and,  in  the  winter  of  1811,  submitted 
to  the  Legislature  an  unanimous  report,  drawn  by  the  masterly  pen 
of  Gouverncur  Morris,  recommending  a  canal  from  Lake  Erie  to 
Hudson's  River,  with  an  estimate  of  the  expense  of  the  same.  That 
eloquent  report  is  before  the  public. 

In  the  same  year  General  Morgan  Lewis  was  elected  to  the 
Senate,  who  then  and  ever  afterwards  gave  his  warm  and  decided 
support  to  the  canal.  During  the  same  session  the  Board  of  Canal 
Commissioners  received  a  great  accession  of  talent  in  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  late  Robert  R.  Livingston  and  Robert  Fulton,  who 
possessed  much  information  upon  subjects  of  this  nature,  and  who 
gave  all  their  influence  to  the  support  of  the  contemplated  plan.* 
Indeed,  the  last  named  gentleman  had  already  rendered  himself 
conspicuous  throughout  Europe,  by  his  valuable  work  on  canal 
navigation. 

In  April,  1811,  Mr.  Clinton,  then  Lieutenant  Governor  of  the 
state,  introduced  a  bill  into  the  senate,  by  which  the  commissioners 
were  empowered  to  solicit  the  aid  of  the  general  government,  in 
accomplishing  the  stupendous  work  then  in  contemplation.  De 
Witt  Clinton  and  Gouverneur  Morris  were  deputed  by  the  Board 
for  the  performance  of  that  duty.  They  accordingly  proceeded  to 
Washington;  and  after  exhibiting  their  commission  to  the  President, 
Mr.  Madison,  they  presented  a  memorial  to  be  laid  before  Congress, 
in  which  every  argument  was  urged  in  behalf  of  the  object  of  their 


*  See  Appendix,  Y. 
11 


102 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


application,  and  to  induce  the  favourable  notice  and  co-operation 
of  the  general  government.  Three  weeks  were  consumed  in  con- 
ferences with  the  heads  of  departments  and  the  most  influential 
members  of  both  houses  in  endeavours  to  obtain  their  approbation 
of  the  measure  proposed,  but  all  to  no  purpose.  Congress  peremp- 
torily, and  happily  for  the  honour  and  interests  of  the  state  of  New- 
York,  refused  their  aid.* 

In  March,  1812,  the  commissioners  made  their  report  to  the 
legislature,  in  which  it  was  zealously  urged,  "  that  now,  sound 
policy  imperatively  demanded  that  the  canal  should  be  made  by  the 
state  of  New-York  alone,  and  for  her  own  account,  as  soon  as 
circumstances  would  permit;  and  that  it  would  be  a  want  of  wisdom 
(and  almost  of  piety)  not  to  employ,  for  public  advantage,  those 
means  which  Providence  had  placed  so  completely  in  their  power;" 
and  with  prophetic  wisdom  predicting,  that  it  will  ever  remain  "  a 
testimony  to  the  genius,  the  learning,  the  industry,  and  intelligence 
of  the  present  age." 

In  June,  1812,  agreeably  to  a  resolution  of  the  board  of  com- 
missioners, Judge  Piatt  introduced  a  bill  into  the  senate  authorizing 
the  commissioners  to  borrow  five  millions  of  dollars  in  Europe,  on 
the  credit  of  the  state,  as  a  fund  for  prosecuting  that  work.  The 
bill  passed  into  a  law ;  but  the  war  with  England,  which  soon  after 
succeeded,  induced  the  legislature,  in  1814,  to  repeal  that  law ;  and 
with  it,  all  further  proceedings  relative  to  the  canal  were  suspended. 
After  the  war  had  terminated,  many  of  the  former  friends  of  the 
canal  appeared  to  be  entirely  discouraged  and  to  have  abandoned 
all  hopes  of  the  legislature  being  again  induced  to  renew  the 


*  See  Appendix  Z. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


103 


consideration  of  that  subject.  But  Mr.  Eddy  could  not  thus  resign 
a  favourite  project ;  and  it  appeared  to  him  that  one  more  effort 
should  now  be  made.  His  early  coadjutor,  Judge  Piatt,  being  in 
the  city  of  New-York,  holding  a  court  in  the  autumn  of  1815,  Mr. 
Eddy  addressed  to  him  a  note,  requesting  a  visit  from  him  the 
succeeding  day.  The  judge,  accordingly,  accepted  the  invitation ; 
when  Mr.  Eddy  proposed  to  him,  that  although  the  subject  of  the 
canal  appeared  to  be  entirely  abandoned,  yet,  if  it  met  his  appro- 
bation, he  would  undertake  to  revive  the  business,  by  procuring  a 
public  meeting  to  be  held,  in  order  to  urge  the  propriety  and  policy 
of  offering  a  memorial  to  the  legislature  to  prosecute  the  canal 
from  Lake  Eric  to  the  Hudson.  Judge  Piatt  readily  acceded  to  the 
proposal,  and  consented  to  open  the  subject  to  the  meeting,  if  one 
could  be  obtained.  De  Witt  Clinton  was  also,  afterwards,  called 
upon  by  Thomas  Eddy  in  person,  and  united  in  adopting  measures 
to  procure  such  public  meeting.  A  large  number  of  our  most 
respectable  citizens  met  accordingly  at  the  City  Hotel.  At  that 
memorable  meeting  the  late  William  Bayard,  Esq.  acted  as  chairman, 
and  John  Pintard,  Esq.  as  secretary.  Judge  Piatt  opened  the 
meeting  with  an  introductory  speech,  on  the  immense  importance 
of  the  contemplated  canal  both  to  the  city  and  state.  He  was 
followed  by  De  Witt  Clinton  and  others. 

Although  some  opposition  to  the  proposed  measures  was 
expressed  by  individuals  of  high  consideration  in  the  community, 
a  resolution  was  nevertheless  passed  by  a  large  majority  in  favour 
of  the  object.  Whereupon  De  Witt  Clinton,  Thomas  Eddy, 
Cadwallader  D.  Colden,  and  John  Swartwout,  were  appointed  a 
committee  to  prepare  and  circulate  a  memorial  to  be  presented  to 
the  legislature  in  favour  of  the  proposed  Eric  Canal. 

A  memorial  was  drawn  and  published  accordingly,  and  was 


104 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


extensively  diffused  throughout  every  part  of  the  state ;  and  at  the 
ensuing  session  of  the  legislature,  was  presented  to  that  body.  It 
was  the  production  of  the  pen  of  De  Witt  Clinton,  and  evinced  a 
perfect  knowledge  of  the  subject ;  with  a  sagacious  discernment  of 
its  beneficial  results,  to  the  state  and  to  the  nation.  Of  that  splendid 
and  celebrated  production,  which  doubtless  was  among  the  most 
instrumental  means  of  establishing  the  canal  policy  on  a  firm  basis, 
it  is  remarked  by  a  competent  judge,*  "  that  if  Mr.  Clinton  had  left 
no  other  evidence,  that  memorial  alone  is  sufficient  to  entitle  him 
to  the  character  of  an  accomplished  writer,  an  enlightened  states- 
man, and  a  zealous  patriot." 

The  friends  of  the  canal  throughout  the  state  rallied  under  the 
standard  of  that  memorial ;  and  meetings  were  soon  after  held  in 
Albany,  Utica,  Geneva,  Canandaigua,  and  Buffalo,  to  support  the 
efforts  that  had  been  so  successfully  commenced  in  the  city  of  New- 
York,  and  thence  a  vigorous  impulse  was  given  to  the  public  mind  in 
favour  of  the  arduous  enterprise.  Petitions  of  the  same  character, 
from  different  parts  of  the  state,  and  signed  by  many  thousand 
citizens,  were  presented  at  the  ensuing  session  of  the  legislature. 

The  services  rendered  by  the  late  Dr.  Hugh  Williamson,  in  his 
various  writings  under  the  signature  of  an  "[Observer,  Mercator, 
Atticus,  &c.  relative  to  this  subject ;  the  exertions  of  the  late  Gideon 
Granger,^  and  those  of  the  venerable  Robert  Troup,  who  most 
unceasingly  devoted  themselves  to  the  interests  of  the  state  as 


*  Jonas  Piatt,  Esq.  t  See  Appendix,  A  A. 

|  See  speech  of  Gideon  Granger,  Esq.  delivered  before  a  convention  of  the  people  of 
Ontario  county,  New-York,  January  8th,  1817,  on  the  subject  of  a  canal  from  Lake 
Erie  to  Hudson's  River,  published  at  Canandaigua  at  the  request  of  the  members  of  the 
convention. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


105 


connected  with  this  great  undertaking  ;  will  also  be  gratefully 
remembered  by  succeeding  generations.*  The  measures  which 
followed  are  too  familiarly  known  to  call  for  a  recital  in  this  place ; 
and  which  is  also  rendered  unnecessary  as  they  have  been  amply 
detailed  in  the  excellent  memoir  prepared  under  the  direction  of 
the  Corporation  of  this  city,  by  the  Hon.  Cadwallader  D.  Colden, 
and  in  the  valuable  writings  of  the  late  Charles  G.  Haines,  Esq. 

Another  class  of  benefactors  to  the  system  of  canal  navigation 
may  still  be  added,  consisting  of  those  who  mainly  contributed  to 
its  ultimate  success,  by  obviating  the  difficulties  and  impediments 
which  were  accidentally  or  intentionally  thrown  in  the  way  to  oppose 
its  progress,  or  entirely  to  defeat  and  frustrate  the  undertaking;  for 
even  after  the  subject  had  been  well  understood  by  the  members  of 
the  legislature,  and  the  bill  was  in  its  passage  through  the  two 
houses,  obstacles  were  still  presented  at  every  step,  which  required 
all  the  genius  and  resources  of  the  friends  to  the  project  to  meet 
and  counteract. 

To  the  Hon.  Cadwallader  D.  Colden,  Martin  Van  Buren,  Jacob 
Rutsen  Van  Rensselaer,  James  Lynch,  Peter  A.  Jay,  William  Ross, 
and  William  A.  Duer,  the  state  owes  a  debt  of  gratitude  for  their 
patriotic  exertions  in  behalf  of  the  canal.t 

It  may  be  mentioned  among  the  singular  coincidences  of  the 
times,  that  Lieutenant  Governor  Colden,  in  the  early  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  was  the  first  to  express  his  anticipation  of  the 
canal  policy  of  the  then  colony  of  New-York;  and  that  in  a  century 
afterwards,  his  no  less  gifted  grandson  should  be  one  of  its  most 
efficient  and  able  supporters.    Of  the  grandsire  I  have  already 


*  See  Appendix,  BB. 


t  See  Appendix,  CC. 


106 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


spoken,  as  the  most  accomplished  and  most  learned  of  the  early 
settlers  of  our  state  ;  as  endued  with  erudition  surpassing  the  times 
and  age  in  which  he  lived ;  as  exhibiting,  in  his  life  and  character, 
a  devotion  to  intellectual  cultivation  most  honourable  and  exclusive; 
and  I  cannot  doubt  that  the  benign  effects  of  his  laudable  zeal  and 
example,  are  felt  by  our  literature  and  science  at  the  present  day. 
Of  his  grandson,  connected  to  me  by  the  bonds  of  friendship  and 
social  intercourse,  I  will  attempt  to  speak  in  that  tone  of  applause 
which  his  own  high  merits  warrant,  but  which  his  own  modesty 
would  disown. 

Long  an  ardent  and  successful  cultivator  of  the  science  of 
jurisprudence,  he  has  yet,  by  the  versatility  of  his  talent  and  ardour 
of  application,  been  enabled  to  devote  no  inconsiderable  portion 
of  his  time  to  those  more  liberal  studies  in  which  the  dignity  of 
our  nature  as  well  as  its  interests  are  concerned ;  and  we  all  know 
the  important  objects  to  which  those  studies  have  been  directed, 
and  the  efficiency  with  which  they  have  been  applied.  His 
acquirements,  his  ability,  his  honour,  and  fidelity,  are  entitled  to 
our  unqualified  approbation  :  but  while  we  acknowledge  his  general 
merits,  it  is  no  less  due  to  the  able  services  he  has  rendered,  as  a 
member  of  the  assembly  and  of  the  senate  of  the  state,  as  the 
chairman  of  the  committee  of  finance,  and  of  the  committee  to 
whom  the  Governor's  speech  was  referred,  to  observe,  that  in  all 
these  several  situations,  he  was  the  active  and  able  defender  of  the 
measures  for  carrying  into  operation  the  plan  of  canal  navigation 
that  has  been  adopted;  at  the  same  time,  that,  in  his  valuable 
memoir  addressed  to  the  corporation,  he  has  condensed  into  an 
accurate  and  succinct  summary  most  of  the  facts  which  relate  to 
this  deeply  interesting  subject. 

In  a  word,  to  use  the  language  of  the  committee  of  the  corpo- 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


107 


ration  of  the  city  of  New-York,  Mr.  Golden  as  a  private  citizen, 
and  in  the  various  official  stations!  ho  has  filled,  has  throughout 
shown  himself  the  zealous  and  constant  friend  of  every  measure 
calculated  to  open  to  us  that  vast  inland  navigation,  which  his 
grandfather  more  than  a  century  ago  predicted. 

The  Hon.  Martin  Van  Buren,  and  the  other  gentlemen  just 
mentioned,  have  been  no  less  distinguished  by  their  support  of 
the  legislative  measures  that  have  been  adopted.  Those  gentle- 
men, then  members  of  the  legislature,  independently  of  their  able, 
and  in  most  instances  their  uniform  support  of  the  canal  policy, 
signalized  themselves  by  very  important  services  in  rescuing  the 
bill  from  a  state  of  jeopardy,  even  when  it  had  been  to  a  certain 
degree  abandoned  by  its  friends — by  their  personal  and  almost 
miraculous  exertions  it  was  resuscitated,  and  again  restored  to  the 
approbation  of  the  two  houses  of  the  legislature. 

Indeed  I  may  add,  such  were  the  machinations  of  its  enemies, 
that  when  the  bill  had  actually  reached  the  council  of  revision, 
so  relentless  and  persevering  were  their  efforts  to  defeat  it,  this 
great  national  work  as  it  proves  to  be,  might  still  have  failed  if 
it  had  not  been  sustained  by  the  enlightened  views  and  integrity 
of  purpose,  that  nobly  characterised  certain  members  of  that  body. 
To  our  distinguished  citizen  James  Kent  in  particular,  then  Chan- 
cellor of  the  state,  and  ex  officio  a  member  of  that  council,  is 
our  country  indebted  for  a  casting  vote  that  decided  the  fate  of 
that  highly  important  act,  so  deeply  connected  with  the  vital 
interests  of  this  state  and  nation. 

A  few  cursory  remarks  will  conclude  my  views  on  this  impor- 
tant subject.  When  the  details  of  this  vast  project  of  uniting 
the  waters  of  the  lakes  with  those  of  the  Atlantic,  were  submitted 


108 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


to  the  discussions  of  the  legislature,  by  some  the  proposition  was 
ridiculed  as  altogether  visionary  and  quixotic ;  every  epithet  which 
timidity,  ignorance,  or  the  bad  passions  of  the  human  heart,  envy, 
jealousy,  malignity,  political  or  personal  animosity  could  suggest, 
was  bestowed  upon  its  authors  and  the  friends  of  the  contemplated 
plan.  But  the  genius  of  Clinton  was  not  to  be  dismayed;  with 
his  characteristic  firmness,  unrestrained  by  the  powers  of  envy, 
unappalled  by  the  scoffs  of  political  opponents,  obstacles  were 
only  interposed  to  be  overthrown.  Conscious  of  his  superior 
strength,  and  of  the  practicability  of  the  plan  proposed,  confiding 
in  the  resources  of  the  state,  and  the  patriotism  of  her  citizens  to 
effect  its  completion,  independently  of  aid  from  the  general  govern- 
ment or  the  neighbouring  states,  which  had  been  solicited  in  vain, 
he  met  the  opposition  with  calm  but  steady  and  persevering 
firmness,  until  the  whole  was  in  such  train  that  the  execution  of 
the  work  was  at  hand.  But  ere  the  period  had  arrived  which 
was  to  crown  his  efforts  with  success,  and  to  encircle  his  brow 
with  a  wreath  of  never-fading  laurels,  and  to  elevate  him  to  the 
proudest  niche  in  the  temple  of  fame,  the  baleful  spirit  of  party 
strife  reared  its  hideous  front,  and  for  a  season  he  became  its 
victim. 

Will  posterity  believe,  that  at  the  very  moment  when  his  services 
were  most  important,  his  character  should  be  traduced,  his  motives 
misrepresented,  and  he  be  thrust  from  a  station,  the  emoluments 
of  which  he  neither  solicited  or  received  ?  Yes  ;  the  ignoble  deed 
was  done  ! — "  Quos  Deus  vult  perdere  prius  dementat." 

On  the  12th  of  April,  1824,  the  last  day  of  the  session  of  that  year, 
a  day  which  will  be  rendered  ever  memorable  in  the  history  of  this 
state,  De  Witt  Clinton,  by  an  almost  unanimous  vote  of  both 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


109 


houses  of  the  legislature,*  was  removed  from  the  office  of  canal 
commissioner;  the  man  who  had  been  many  years  one  of  the 
greatest  benefactors  of  this  state,  and  who  at  the  very  moment 
when  his  labours  were  suspended,  was  actively  engaged  in  the 
completion  of  this  work  which  distinguishes  the  age  and  country 
in  which  it  has  been  accomplished :  probably  for  the  same  reason 
that  the  Athenians  urged,  when  by  the  ostracism  they  banished 
their  Aristides,  that  they  were  wearied  with  hearing  the  continued 
praises  bestowed  upon  the  good,  the  virtuous,  the  just  Aristides, 
our  representatives  could  also  allege,  as  the  best  defence  to  be 
advanced  for  their  high-handed  act  of  cruelty  and  folly,  that  they 
too  were  wearied  with  hearing  the  unceasing  plaudits  bestowed 
upon  Clinton,  the  idol,  the  Aristides  of  his  country.  Such  was 
the  indignation  created  throughout  every  part  of  the  state  by 
this  most  extraordinary,  this  almost  maniacal  procedure  of  a 
deliberative  body,  that  as  was  to  be  expected,  it  produced  an 
almost  universal  re-action  in  his  favour.  Like  the  chains  of 
Columbus  after  his  discovery  of  the  new  world,  this  unjust  and 
odious  act  only  served  to  enhance  the  value  of  his  services,  to 
dishonour  his  enemies,  to  rivet  more  strongly  the  affections  of 
his  friends,  and  the  gratitude  of  his  country,  to  immortalize  and 
to  identify  his  name  with  the  deeds  he  had  done,  and  the  country 
he  had  served.  He  met  the  event  with  his  accustomed  self- 
possession  ;  he  calmly  retired  until  the  storm  then  raging  might  be 
expended,  when  he  again  rose  superior  to  his  enemies,  and  to 
every  misfortune  with  which  they  had  endeavoured  to  overwhelm 
him. 


*  See  Appendix,  DD. 

12 


110 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


Yes,  he  endured  all  that  poverty  and  humiliation  could  inflict, 
and  nobly  disdained  to  receive  aught  for  the  services  he  had 
rendered  in  the  station  from  which  he  had  been  thus  ignominiously 
displaced.  For  a  time  he  retired  from  the  public  view,  but  that 
retirement  was  still  devoted  to  scientific  pursuits,  and  the  interests 
of  his  country  :  notwithstanding  the  unmerited  obloquy  he  had 
sustained,  his  magnanimity  never  for  a  moment  forsook  him ;  he 
still  extended  his  guardian  protection  over  the  ulterior  interests 
of  his  native  state;  he  still  continued  to  examine  and  develope 
her  resources,  to  arouse  her  latent  energies,  and  looked  forward 
to  the  period  when  she  would  be  awakened  to  her  high  destiny. 
Although  withdrawn  from  public  life,  he  never  spent  an  idle  hour, 
but  eagerly  availed  himself  of  this  temporary  release  from  public 
employment,  to  extend  his  knowledge  of  mechanical  philosophy, 
of  the  principles  of  canalling,  and  of  those  collateral  branches 
of  science,  connected  with  the  great  plan  of  internal  improve- 
ments. His  favourite  study  of  natural  philosophy  also,  as  it  had 
ever  done,  served  to  fill  up  an  occasional  hour  of  relaxation  from 
severer  pursuits. 

I  am  not  aware  that  upon  this  removal  from  all  public  duties, 
Mr.  Clinton  did  at  any  time,  either  in  conversation  with  his  private 
friends  or  others,  communicate  the  feelings  which  his  wounded 
spirit  must  unavoidably  have  sustained  on  this  occasion ;  nor  have 
I  been  able  to  learn,  that  in  any  of  his  correspondence  he  in  any 
wise  alluded  to  his  exclusion  in  the  language  of  censure  :  the  only 
letter  in  which  he  adverted  to  it,  that  has  come  to  my  knowledge,  is 
one  written  on  the  third  day  after  the  passage  of  the  act  by 
which  he  was  reduced  to  the  station  of  a  private  citizen.  In  this 
communication,  addressed  to  his  friend,  Dr.  John  W.  Francis, 


MEMOTR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


Ill 


he  thus  expresses  himself: — "  I  am  now  without  any  public  trust, 
having  been  removed  from  the  office  of  canal  commissioner  ;  and 
if  I  can  do  no  official  good,  I  certainly  am  deprived  of  the  means 
of  doing  mischief."       *       *       *       *  * 

The  time  was  rapidly  approaching  when  this  single-hearted 
patriotism,  this  pure  devotion,  was  destined  to  receive  its  highest 
reward.  Mr.  Clinton  having  previously  exercised  the  office  of 
Governor  of  the  state,  and  having  signalized  himself  by  the 
services  he  had  rendered  in  that  situation,  the  people,  ever  true 
to  themselves,  and  to  whom  is  the  ultimate  appeal  when  injustice 
has  been  done,  became  sensible  of  that  injustice,  and  indignant 
at  the  conduct  of  their  representatives,  resolved  to  show  the  world 
how  highly  they  prized  the  disinterested  services  of  their  bene- 
factor. They  accordingly,  at  the  first  opportunity  which  was 
afforded  them  to  express  their  sense  of  the  injury  and  the  indignity 
he  had  sustained,  called  him  from  his  retirement,  and  by  an  over- 
whelming majority  of  the  votes  of  his  fellow-citizens,  again  placed 
him  in  the  chair  of  state :  happily  for  the  interests  and  character 
of  the  state,  he  continued  to  hold  the  office  until  his  lamented 
decease. 

To  Mr.  Clinton  is  also  due  great  credit  for  devising  the  means 
of  finance  necessary  to  the  contemplated  canal  navigation,  and 
through  the  weight  of  his  unceasing  exertions  and  influence,  aided 
by  the  support  of  Jonas  Piatt,  George  Tibbits,  Wheeler  Barnes, 
Myron  Hollcy,  Morgan  Lewis,  and  Edward  P.  Livingston,  then 
members  of  the  legislature,  in  obtaining  the  measures  of  that  body 
to  carry  the  same  into  effect.* 


*  See  Appendix,  EE. 


112 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


While,  therefore,  much  praise  is  due  to  those  whose  services 
have  been  acknowledged,  the  existence  of  the  New-York  canal  will 
ever  be  identified  with  the  name  and  fame  of  De  Witt  Clinton,  and 
hereafter  ought  to  be,  and  doubtless  will  be  known  and  designated 
as  the  Clinton  Canal.  It  ought  not  to  be  forgotten  that  in  1818, 
during  the  discussions  in  the  legislature,  when  the  further  progress 
of  the  canal  depended  upon  the  appropriations  then  required, 
it  was  spoken  of,  by  an  able  and  influential  member  of  that  body, 
in  terms  of  derision,  as  "  a  big  ditch,"  in  which  were  to  be  buried 
the  treasures  of  the  state,  and  to  be  watered  with  the  tears  of 
posterity.  By  another  member  of  the  senate,  when  the  question 
of  appropriation  was  first  proposed,  such  were  the  fears  con- 
scientiously entertained  by  many,  it  was  pronounced  to  be  a  project 
unavoidably  involving  the  ruin  and  bankruptcy  of  the  state.  But 
notwithstanding  all  the  merited  weight  of  character  and  experience 
with  which  this  prediction  was  urged,  it  was  not  sufficient  to 
resist  the  defence  of  the  plan  proposed  and  sustained  by  Mr. 
Clinton  and  his  associates,  many  of  whom  were  his  political 
opponents,  but  who  had  the  magnanimity  to  acknowledge  the 
correctness  of  his  views,  and  the  extensive  benefits  to  be  derived 
to  our  state  and  country  from  their  adoption. 

Even  by  the  venerable  Jefferson,  whose  views  of  this  subject 
were  solicited,  and  whose  experience  and  foresight  gave  weight  to 
his  opinions,  it  was  considered  a  project  not  to  be  realized  for  a 
century  to  come ;  but  it  is  due  to  the  candour  of  Mr.  Jefferson  to 
add,  that  when  the  canal  was  completed,  he  as  frankly  acknow- 
ledged in  a  letter  addressed  to  Governor  Clinton,  that  in  his 
prediction  he  had  been  a  century  too  late. 

By  Mr.  Madison  also  it  was  deemed  so  expensive  an  undertaking, 
as  far  to  exceed  the  whole  resources  of  the  nation.    The  late  Mr. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLTNTON. 


113 


Rufus  King,  whose  intelligence,  patriotism,  and  correct  judgment 
upon  most  subjects  connected  with  the  general  welfare  of  the 
country,  none  can  question,  when  requested  to  add  the  weight 
of  his  name  to  the  memorial  to  be  presented  to  the  legislature 
in  181G,  declined  doing  so,  alleging  that  the  work  contemplated 
far  exceeded  the  resources  of  the  state,  or  even  of  the  United 
States  at  that  time ;  adding,  "  I  cannot,  therefore,  sanction  with 
my  signature  a  memorial  which  would  involve,  if  granted,  much 
useless  expenditure."  But  it  is  a  tribute  due  to  the  magnanimity 
of  that  eminent  statesman  to  add,  from  information  I  have  recently 
received  from  the  gentleman  to  whom  the  communication  was 
made,  that  on  the  24th  November,  1825,  when  the  American 
papers  were  received  in  London,  containing  an  account  of  the 
canal  celebration  upon  the  completion  of  that  great  work,  Mr. 
King  in  his  remarks  on  the  festival,  took  occasion  to  pronounce  a 
high  and  flattering  eulogium  upon  the  talents  and  services  of  Mr. 
Clinton,  and  expressed  much  satisfaction  that  the  plans  of  that 
illustrious  statesman  had  at  length  been  fully  realised,  and  that 
the  stupendous  enterprise  with  which  his  reputation  was  identified, 
had  been  crowned  with  complete  success.  He  rejoiced  that  Mr. 
Clinton  had  outlived  the  prejudices  and  passions  of  his  opponents, 
and  was  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  the  popularity  and  public  confi- 
dence which  he  had  so  justly  merited.* 

By  others  it  was  considered  altogether  visionary,  and  likely  to 
be  destructive  not  only  of  the  interests  of  the  state,  but  of  the 
reputation  of  Mr.  Clinton,  and  all  who  were  associated  with  him ; 
indeed  had  it  proved  unsuccessful,  the  latter  event  it  will  be  con- 


*  See  Appendix,  FF. 


114 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


ceded,  must  have  been  inevitable ;  but  thanks  to  a  superintending 
Providence,  he  survived  to  witness  its  completion,  which  has  been 
mainly  effected  by  his  instrumentality  and  perseverance.  Mr. 
Clinton's  exertions,  public,  private,  and  personal,  throughout  the 
whole  progress  of  this  work,  from  the  commencement  to  its  ter- 
mination, were  the  subject  of  surprise,  and  the  theme  of  praise 
throughout  the  state  and  country. 

Some  of  Mr.  Clinton's  more  immediate  friends  whose  interests 
were  connected  with,  and  dependent  upon  his  own,  perceiving 
the  plan  proposed  to  be  unpopular  in  the  western  parts  of  the 
state,  and  apprehensive  that  its  failure  would  prove  destructive 
of  his  political  character  and  standing,  and  that  they  would 
necessarily  suffer  from  the  loss  of  his  influence,  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  wait  upon  him,  for  the  purpose  of  expressing  their  fears 
of  the  result  of  these  contemplated  internal  improvements,  and 
if  possible,  of  dissuading  him  from  further  proceedings  upon  this 
subject.  His  reply,  in  which  he  manifested  his  total  disregard 
of  private  interest,  when  it  came  in  collision  with  the  public 
good,  was  characteristic  of  his  invincible  determination.  "  Gentle- 
men," said  he,  after  partially  hearing  their  communications,  "my 
mind  is  decided  upon  this  measure;  it  is  practicable,  it  is  of 
immense  importance  to  the  interests  of  the  state,  it  is  perfectly 
within  the  reach  of  its  resources.  I  am,  therefore  determined 
to  hazard  all  for  its  accomplishment."  His  caution  in  forming  his 
opinions  and  plans  of  operation,  his  inflexible  decision  and  perse- 
verance in  carrying  into  effect  what  his  judgment  had  approved, 
were  not  to  be  counteracted  or  controlled  by  any  means  that  could 
be  presented  by  friends  or  roes:  his  mental  courage,  as  well  as  his 
personal  and  physical  firmness,  were  not  to  be  shaken  by  the  fears 
of  his  friends,  or  the  machinations  of  his  opponents. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


115 


In  1819  the  enemies  of  the  canal  finding  that  the  success  of  Mr. 
Clintoirs  measures  was  inevitable,  and  further  resistance  on  their 
p;irt  vain  and  likely  to  recoil  upon  themselves,  at  the  s;ime  time 
desirous  to  lessen  the  reputation  he  had  acquired,  and  which  was 
likely  to  be  increased,  summoned  a  meeting  in  Albany,  when  they 
resolved  to  relinquish  the  opposition  they  had  hitherto  maintained, 
and  to  unite  in  support  of  the  canal,  and  from  that  period  to  give 
it  all  the  aid  in  their  power  ;  in  the  meanwhile,  industriously 
diffusing  the  idea  that  he  had  no  credit  in  giving  origin  to  the 
project,  and  was  only  entitled  to  a  small  part  of  the  merit  attached 
to  the  measures  that  had  been  recommended  and  adopted  for  thus 
far  carrying  it  into  effect. 

There  are  none  who  will  duly  consider  the  important  services 
rendered  by  Mr.  Clinton,  in  his  various  capacities  of  governor, 
senator,  and  canal  commissioner,  who  will  advert  to  his  public 
messages,  his  personal  exertions,  his  extensive  correspondence,  his 
anxious  and  laborious  attentions,  his  unceasing  devotion,  by  night 
and  by  day ;  on  all  sides,  too,  surrounded  by  enemies — indeed, 
sometimes  counteracted  by  his  friends, — who  will  believe,  that, 
without  his  instrumentality,  this  work  would  have  been  accomplished 
at  this  time  ?  And  it  will  readily  be  perceived  and  acknowledged, 
had  the  law  not  been  passed  at  the  propitious  moment  that  it  was 
enacted,  such  has  been  the  distracted  state  of  party  feelings,  and 
such  the  conflicting  local  interests  of  the  different  parts  of  the 
state,  that,  since  that  period,  it  would  have  been  utterly  impossible 
to  have  again  united  the  sentiments  of  the  legislative  body  in  a  work 
of  this  magnitude. 

The  canal,  thus  completed,  uniting  the  lakes  and  the  ocean,  as 
was  anticipated,  has  rendered  the  city  of  New-York  the  commercial 
centre  of  the  union — the  London  of  the  western  hemisphere.  At 


116 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


the  same  time,  that  it  has  immortalized  the  name  of  him  who  has 
been  the  efficient  instrument  of  the  accomplishment  of  this  gigantic 
work,  which,  in  the  language  of  the  memorable  act  of  1817,  "  is 
destined  to  promote  agriculture,  manufactures,  and  commerce,  to 
mitigate  the  calamities  of  war,  to  enhance  the  blessings  of  peace, 
to  consolidate  the  union,  to  advance  the  prosperity  and  elevate  the 
character  of  the  United  States."  As  is  justly  observed  by  the 
secretary  of  state,  the  able  compiler  of  the  laws  relating  to  this 
subject : — "  Projects,  so  bold  in  their  conception,  so  extensive  in 
their  influence,  so  beneficial  in  their  effects,  and  so  stupendous  in 
their  object,  will  indeed  remain  to  declare  the  glory  of  our  country, 
and  to  pronounce  the  best  eulogium  upon  the  memory  of  their 
founders  and  patrons."* 

Contemplating  these  results  as  tributary  to  the  firmer  union  of 
the  American  confederacy,  permit  me  to  adopt  the  emphatic 
language  of  Mr.  Clinton  himself  :t — '*  A  dissolution  of  the  union 
may  be  considered  the  natural  death  of  our  free  government.  To 
avert  this  awful  calamity,  all  local  prejudices  and  geographical 
distinctions  should  be  discarded,  the  people  should  be  habituated 
to  frequent  intercourse  and  beneficial  inter-communication,  and  the 
whole  republic  ought  to  be  bound  together  by  the  golden  ties  of 
commerce  and  the  adamantine  chains  of  interest.  When  the 
western  canal  is  finished  and  a  communication  is  formed  between 
Lake  Michigan  and  the  Illinois  river,  or  between  the  Ohio  and 
the  waters  of  Lake  Erie,  the  greater  part  of  the  United  States  will 
form  one  vast  island,  susceptible  of  circumnavigation  to  the  extent 
of  many  thousand  miles.    The  most  distant  parts  of  the  confederacy 


*  John  Van  Ness  Yates. 


t  See  Governor  Clinton's  speech  for  1819. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


11? 


will  then  be  in  a  state  of  approximation,  and  the  distinctions  of 
eastern  and  western,  of  southern  and  northern  interests,  will  be 
entirely  prostrated.  To  be  instrumental  in  producing  so  much 
good,  by  increasing  the  stock  of  human  happiness ;  by  establishing 
the  perpetuity  of  free  government,  and  by  extending  the  empire  of 
knowledge,  of  refinement,  and  of  religion,  is  an  ambition  worthy 
of  a  free  people.  The  most  exalted  reputation  is  that  which  arises 
from  the  dispensation  of  happiness  to  our  fellow-creatures,  and 
that  conduct  is  most  acceptable  to  God  which  is  most  beneficial 
to  man." 

While  the  completion  of  the  canal  is,  by  common  consent, 
ascribed  to  the  indefatigable  and  persevering  exertions  of  Mr. 
Clinton,  it  is  but  justice  to  his  memory  to  observe,  that  he  never 
pretended  to  claim  the  merit  of  being  the  projector  of  the  system 
of  canal  navigation  in  this  state :  on  the  contrary,  he  unequivocally 
disclaimed  all  pretension  to  that  merit,  and  freely  ascribed  it  to 
others,  yet  not  considering  it  due  to  any  one  individual.  In  his 
pertinent  reply  to  the  committee  appointed  by  the  citizens  of  New- 
York,  to  express  their  sentiments  relative  to  his  removal  from  the 
honorary  station  of  canal  commissioner,  he  thus  diffidently  expresses 
his  own  agency,  and  the  obligations  that  are  due  to  others,  who 
had  been  instrumental  in  the  commencement,  the  progress,  and  the 
accomplishment  of  this  great  work  :  "  I  have  furnished  this  sum- 
mary view  of  the  subject,  (he  remarks,)  not  in  a  spirit  of  egotism, 
a  tone  of  assumption,  or  with  any  pretensions  to  exclusive  merit. 
I  have  done  all  that  I  could  do — and  the  agency  of  many  meritorious 
and  distinguished  men,  in  preparing  the  public  mind  to  favour,  and 
inducing  the  legislature  to  adopt  the  project — in  exploring  and 
examining  the  country — in  undertaking  the  responsibilities  of 
superintendence  and  engineering — in  facilitating  the  financial 

13 


118 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


arrangements, — and  in  promoting  the  general  interests  of  the  under- 
taking, entitles  them  to  the  highest  praise."*  Upon  another  public 
occasion  he,  in  like  manner,  disclaimed  any  participation  in  the 
honour  of  giving  origin  to  this  most  useful  work. 

His  compliment  to  Judge  Piatt,  in  his  reply  to  the  trustees  of  the 
village  of  Utica,t  is  an  additional  evidence  of  his  disinterestedness : 
"  You  can  enrol  in  your  number  a  fellow-citizen,"  he  observes, 
"  whose  purity  of  character,  elevation  of  purpose,  and  solidity  of 
intellect,  are  entitled  to  the  highest  consideration.  In  the  com- 
mencement of  this  work,  he  was  a  prominent  and  efficient  friend ; 
and  when  it  had  sunk,  irretrievably  sunk,  in  the  general  estimation, 
he  was  greatly  instrumental  in  its  resuscitation,  and,  probably, 
prevented  its  final  overthrow."  With  the  same  spirit  of  liberality 
towards  all  who  have  been  his  coadjutors,  and  gentleness  of  rebuke 
to  those  who  have  been  inimical  to  this  undertaking,  he  further 
observes  :  "  For  the  good  which  has  been  done  by  individuals  or 
communities,  in  relation  to  this  work,  let  each  have  a  due  share  of 
credit :  over  the  evil  which  has  been  perpetrated,  let  a  veil  of 
oblivion  be  drawn — let  the  unfriendly  feelings,  which  have  sprung 
from  those  collisions,  be  merged  in  a  spirit  of  conciliation  and 
kindness — let  the  dark  shades  of  the  past  be  extinguished  in  the 
brilliant  enjoyment  of  the  present  and  the  splendid  visions  of  the 
future."t 

After  this  exhibition  of  the  facts  relative  to  the  canal  navigation 
and  its  associate  improvements,  that  have  been  thus  successfully 
carried  into  operation,  and  secured  to  the  state  of  New-York 
the  acknowledged  ascendency  she  now  holds  in  the  union,  and  the 


*  See  Appendix,  GG.  |  See  Appendix,  HH.  t  See  Appendix,  II. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


119 


inestimable  benefits  she  has  already  derived,  and  will  continue  to 
receive,  I  feel  persuaded,  that  the  feelings  of  all  who  hear  me  are 
in  unison  with  mine,  when  I  observe,  that  while  much  praise  is  due 
to  many  of  the  distinguished  men  whose  services  have  been  briefly 
referred  to,  and  by  whose  labours  the  public  mind  had  been  in 
some  degree  prepared,  more  especially  by  the  legislative  measures 
proposed  bv  Joshua  Foreman,  and  the  subsequent  surveys  of  Simeon 
Dewitt,  James  Geddes,  and  Benjamin  Wright,*  that  to  Thomas 
Eddy  and  Jonas  Piatt  are  to  be  attributed  the  great  credit  of 
originating  in  1810  the  first  efficient  and  successful  public  measures, 
and  after  the  termination  of  the  late  war,  in  1815,  of  recalling  the 
attention  of  the  citizens,  and  of  the  legislature,  to  this  subject; 
while  to  De  Witt  Clinton  will  be  ascribed  the  imperishable  renown 
of  having  been  the  chief  instrument  of  effecting  and  completing 
this  splendid  achievement,  which  reflects  lustre  upon  an  illustrious 
age. 

In  the  language  of  his  venerable  friend  and  preceptorf  already 
noticed : — "  As  long  as  the  Erie  canal  shall  enrich  and  bless  the 
state  of  New-York,  so  long  that  state  should  venerate  the  name  of 
De  Witt  Clinton,  and  a  statue,  or  other  monument  to  his  memory, 
be  erected  on  its  banks." 

Yes,  illustrious  benefactor  of  this  state  and  nation,  while  the 
waters  of  Erie  shall  flow,  while  time  shall  endure,  thy  name  will  be 
venerated,  and  an  everlasting  monument  be  erected  to  thy  memory 
in  the  hearts  of  thy  countrymen. 

For  such  as  have  not  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  Mr.  Clinton, 
it  may  be  observed,  that  his  personal  manner  and  appearance  were 


*  See  Appendix,  JJ. 


t  William  Cochran,  D.D. 


120 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


dignified  and  commanding,  which  well  corresponded  with  the 
loftiness  of  his  views  and  the  elevation  of  mind  which  he  uniformly 
displayed. 

His  person  was  tall,  exceeding  six  feet  in  height,  of  a  fine  form, 
and  well  proportioned.  In  his  earlier  years  he  was  remarkable  for 
his  thin  and  slender  make ;  but  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  his 
frame  became  expanded,  and  in  consequence  of  lameness  from  an 
accidental  injury,  by  which  he  was  deprived  of  his  customary 
exercise,  he  acquired  a  fulness  of  habit,  which  predisposed  him  to 
the  diseases  that  ultimately  supervened,  and  in  their  consequences 
led  to  his  dissolution.  His  carriage  was  elevated  ;  his  movements 
deliberate  and  dignified,  sometimes  manifesting  great  earnestness, 
but  never  precipitancy. 

His  head  was  well  formed  and  particularly  distinguished  for  the 
great  height  and  breadth  of  his  forehead ;  his  hair  was  brown ;  his 
complexion  brilliant ;  his  nose  finely  proportioned  and  of  the  Grecian 
form;  his  lip  thin,  and  of  that  peculiar  configuration  that  some 
critics  have  deemed  indicative  of  eloquence. 

His  eyes  were  of  a  dark  hazle  colour,  but  peculiarly  quick  and 
expressive ;  sometimes  indicating  all  the  playfulness  of  the  most 
vivid  imagination ;  upon  other  occasions,  moistened  with  a  tear, 
displaying  the  most  tender  emotion  that  can  weigh  upon  the  heart: 
but  when  a  sense  of  injury  or  wrong  called  for  redress,  the  same 
eye  could  flash  the  fire  of  indignation  in  expressing  the  powerful 
feelings  that  were  then  passing  through  his  mind.  The  muscles 
of  his  face,  especially  when  exercised  in  conversation,  or  in  public 
speaking,  were  strongly  marked,  and  exhibited  the  impulse  and 
energy  of  the  soul  that  animated  them  :  furnishing  ample  illustration 
of  the  truth,  that  while  the  bony  configuration  of  the  head  may 
exhibit  the  original  capacity  and  propensities  of  the  individual,  the 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


121 


eye  and  the  muscles  composing  the  soft  features,  alone  indicate 
the  activity  and  powers  actually  exercised  by  the  mind :  as  the 
beautiful  sculpture  of  the  vase  is  only  displayed  in  perfection  when 
lighted  from  within,  so  do  the  external  moveable  features  of  the 
human  form  exhibit  the  animating  principle  that  gives  to  them  their 
expression  and  intelligence;  in  these  alone  the  character  of  the 
man  is  delineated.  The  clay  and  the  canvass  of  the  most  eminent 
artists  of  our  country,  have  frequently  been  employed  to  convey  the 
image  of  his  person  for  the  gratification  of  his  numerous  friends, 
and  the  different  public  institutions  which  he  has  created,  and 
whose  interests  he  has  promoted  by  his  public  services  and  his 
private  benefactions. 

Mr.  Clinton  was  as  amiable  in  his  private  as  he  was  dignified 
in  his  public  life.  His  great  intellectual  powers  and  attainments 
were  adorned  with  a  corresponding  moral  character,  pure  and 
unsullied-  Although  his  life  has  been  dedicated  to  the  interests 
of  his  country,  and  expended  in  her  service,  he  has  left  his 
numerous  family  in  a  state  of  comparative  dependence.  Yes,  the 
orphan  children  of  him  who  has  been  the  instrument  of  elevating 
the  character  of  the  state,  and  of  pouring  incalculable  wealth  into 
its  treasury,  with  the  exception  of  the  inconsiderable  legislative 
grant  of  ten  thousand  dollars,  are  left  dependent  upon  their  own 
exertions,  I  had  almost  said,  without  the  means  of  education  and 
support.  The  public  stations  he  has  filled,  afforded  him  repeated 
opportunities  of  improving  his  pecuniary  condition,  and  that  too 
in  a  manner  which  the  most  fastidious  would  have  approved  as 
perfectly  just  and  honourable;  yet  he  ever  declined  to  avail  himself 
of  the  numerous  occasions  that  were  thus  frequently  placed  within 
his  reach;  when  too  it  was  customary  and  deemed  perfectly 
correct,  for  members  of  the  legislature  to  subscribe  to  newly 


122 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


created  stocks,  a  privilege  they  possessed  in  common  with  their 
fellow-citizens,  Mr.  Clinton  in  no  instance,  upon  no  occasion, 
ever  departed  from  the  rule  of  conduct  he  had  prescribed  for 
himself  upon  subjects  of  this  nature.  Like  Hamilton,  his  illustrious 
predecessor  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen,  although  placed  in 
situations  where  he  had  an  opportunity  of  acquiring  great  wealth, 
and  that  without  the  least  imputation  upon  his  integrity,  he  pre- 
ferred to  forego  those  advantages,  and  to  leave  as  a  legacy  to  his 
children  his  unsullied  integrity  and  poverty,  in  preference  to  wealth, 
and  the  possibility  of  a  suspicion,  that  he  may  have  acquired  it 
by  any  act  which  could  bear  the  construction  of  a  sordid  desire  to 
render  his  office  tributary  to  his  private  benefit,  at  the  expense 
of  the  public  good. 

I  must  be  permitted  too,  to  relate  an  occurrence  as  falling 
within  my  own  personal  knowledge,  that  upon  an  occasion  when 
Mr.  Clinton  was  under  the  greatest  embarrassment  in  his  finances, 
and  in  a  moment  of  peculiar  depression  from  the  temporary 
discontinuance  of  public  favour  and  removal  from  office,  the  sum 
of  five  thousand  dollars  was  placed  at  his  command  by  a  friend 
who  knew  his  pecuniary  distress :  with  strong  and  grateful 
emotions  connected  with  this  event,  he  declined  to  receive  it, 
thereby  manifesting  that  delicacy  of  integrity  only  known  to  pure 
and  elevated  minds.  Notwithstanding  the  limited  resources  of 
Mr.  Clinton,  to  the  poor  he  was  generous  and  charitable ;  in  his 
contributions  to  the  public  institutions  of  our  city  and  state,  and 
in  his  expenditures  in  the  promotion  of  science  and  literature, 
his  liberal  feelings  far  exceeded  the  means  he  possessed  of  indulg- 
ing his  inclinations.  As  a  private  citizen,  as  well  as  in  his  public 
official  character,  his  urbanity  and  hospitality  to  the  stranger,  have 
oftentimes  been  the  theme  of  praise,  and  have  reflected  credit  upon 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


123 


our  country.  In  the  ordinary  interchanges  of  society,  he  was  no 
less  ready  in  the  tender  of  his  advice  and  friendship  to  those  who 
sought  them,  than  he  was  to  aid  them  with  his  purse.  1  may  add, 
that  in  all  the  changes  of  a  long  and  eventful  life,  he  was  never 
known  to  abandon  a  faithful  friend.  His  gratitude  for  past  services 
was  ever  a  prominent  trait  in  his  character ;  his  fidelity  to  those 
from  whom  he  had  ever  received  an  act  of  kindness  was  proverbial. 

However  elevated  his  station,  or  whatever  may  have  been  the 
changes  of  condition  his  friends  may  have  experienced,  his  atten- 
tions to  them  were  uniformly  continued.  In  some  instances  even 
at  the  expense  of  his  discretion,  his  political  influence,  his  increas- 
ing fame  and  standing  in  society,  he  persisted  in  extending  to 
them  his  friendly  notice  long  after  the  world  had  considered  them 
unworthy  of  his  protection:  the  motive  that  prompted  to  this 
kindness,  cannot  but  be  appreciated,  and  claim  for  him  the 
respect  and  the  affections  of  his  fellow-men.  Where  his  friends 
maintained  their  integrity  and  honourable  standing,  they  never 
failed  in  the  dispensation  of  his  patronage,  to  receive  a  full  share 
of  his  liberality  and  gratitude. 

From  a  long  and  intimate  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Clinton,  I  am 
also  fully  satisfied  that  there  are  other  traits  of  his  character, 
which  were  misinterpreted  and  not  at  all  understood  by  the  public. 
His  deportment,  which  was  naturally  dignified,  was  considered  by 
many  to  proceed  from  arrogance  and  a  sense  of  superiority; 
on  the  contrary,  no  man  walked  more  humbly,  for  no  man  was 
more  conscious  of  the  real  extent  of  his  powers,  or  sensible  of 
his  defects.  He  had  attained  to  that  height  in  knowledge,  that 
he  readily  saw  the  extent  of  the  terra  incognita  to  which  his  efforts 
had  not  reached,  or  circumstances  did  not  permit  him  to  attain : 
this  necessarily,  at  the  same  time  that  it  quickened  his  ambition, 


124 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


produced  in  him  great  humility,  which  was  frequently  made 
manifest  to  his  intimate  friends. 

His  apparent  and  alleged  haughtiness  of  manner,  in  my  opinion, 
arose  in  part  from  his  natural  diffidence,  and  was  partly  attributable 
to  long  and  confirmed  habits  of  abstraction;  for  when  not  engaged 
in  the  discharge  of  his  public  duties,  he  was  generally  immured 
in  his  library,  and  his  mind  intently  occupied  upon  subjects  of 
great  interest,  leaving  little  room  for  intercourse  with  the  world, 
or  indulgence  in  that  light  conversation  and  flippancy,  possessed 
by  the  man  more  devoted  to  fashionable  life. 

Hence,  eminent  as  he  was  as  the  statesman,  he  knew  not,  and 
never  descended  to  the  arts  of  the  politician.  He  exercised  none 
of  the  blandishments,  the  thousand  nameless  arts  of  winning 
popular  favour  by  personal  address,  and  for  no  better  reason  than 
that  he  did  not  possess  them,  and  disdained  the  effort  to  acquire 
them. 

He  was  indeed,  as  has  been  eloquently  said,  by  an  eminent  coun- 
sellor of  the  New-York  bar,*  "the  Pericles  of  our  commonwealth: 
for  nearly  thirty  years  he  exercised  without  stooping  to  the  little 
arts  of  popularity,  an  intellectual  dominion  in  his  native  state, 
scarcely  inferior  to  that  of  the  illustrious  Athenian,  a  dominion 
as  benignant  as  it  was  effective." 

He  was  accused  of  hauteur  and  indifference  towards  his  friends, 
and  contempt  of  his  enemies :  the  reverse  of  this  picture  too  is 
the  truth.  In  the  social  circle,  in  the  enjoyments  of  the  fire-side, 
when  all  sources  of  restraint  were  removed,  he  was  known  to  be 
playful  in  the  extreme,  both  in  his  manner  and  in  conversation. 


*  George  Griffin,  Esq.    See  Appendix,  KK. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


125 


By  his  enemies  he  was  also  pronounced  proud  and  ambitious. 
He  was  proud,  but  his  was  not  the  pride  that  is  usually  understood 
as  the  synonym  of  vanity ;  it  was  the  consciousness  of  the  merit 
and  the  powers  he  possessed,  the  purity  of  the  principles  by  which 
he  was  governed,  and  of  the  deeds  he  had  done ;  vanity  knows 
no  such  merit,  nor  is  entitled  to  those  claims. 

He  too  was  ambitious;  but,  it  was  that  ambition  which  is 
ever  identified  with  virtue,  and  never  associated  but  with  virtuous 
deeds;  the  object  of  that  ambition  was  his  country's  welfare;  true, 
he  aspired  to  the  high  places  and  honours  in  the  gift  of  his  fellow- 
citizens  ;  but  it  was  to  extend  the  horizon  of  his  usefulness,  and 
he  never  sought  them  but  as  the  reward  of  merit  and  of  services 
rendered. 

Mr.  Clinton  was  remarkable  for  a  great  degree  of  sensibility  and 
diffidence,  not  unfrequently  the  associates  of  genius  and  talent. 
He  scarcely  entered  a  drawing-room  where  many  persons  were 
assembled,  or  was  introduced  to  a  distinguished  stranger,  without 
manifesting  some  emotion  and  embarrassment:  even  in  the  deli- 
very of  a  public  discourse,  notwithstanding  his  long  habits  of 
public  speaking,  like  his  great  predecessor  Hamilton,  he  never  rose 
without  excitement,  almost  as  great  as  that  imputed  to  the  Roman 
orator. 

You  who  have  been  his  auditors,  will  well  remember  the  trem- 
bling hand,  the  faltering  voice,  the  quivering  lip,  and  the  suffused 
cheek,  that  exhibited  the  strong  feelings  that  agitated  his  frame, 
and  which  were  scarcely  to  be  subdued  by  the  consciousness  of 
the  importance  of  the  subject,  or  the  merit  of  the  labour  in  which 
he  was  engaged. 

In  the  domestic  6haracter,  and  in  all  the  private  relations 
of  life,  Mr.  Clinton  was  no  less  exemplary  than  he  was  dis- 

14 


126 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


tinguished  in  the  several  public  stations  he  occupied.  In  him 
we  find  the  affectionate  husband,  the  kind  and  indulgent  parent, 
the  humane  master,  the  attentive  and  unchanging  friend. 

During  all  the  severity  and  most  violent  spirit  of  party  contention, 
his  enemies  never  said  aught  to  call  in  question  the  unsullied 
purity  of  his  private  deportment.  In  the  domestic  character  of 
Mr.  Clinton,  we  are  called  upon  to  admire  his  amiable  temper, 
and  the  tender  attachment  he  manifested  to  the  members  of  his 
family,  not  excepting  his  domestics,  who  were  uniformly  treated 
by  him  with  feeling  and  courtesy,  and  who  in  return  were  always 
devoted  to  their  kind  and  benevolent  protector. 

The  affectionate  intercourse  and  playful  fondness  he  ever 
indulged  towards  his  children,  and  the  inordinate  sensibilities  and 
sufferings  which  he  experienced  from  the  bereavements  he  had 
occasion  to  sustain,  also  evince  the  purity  and  gentleness  of  his 
domestic  life. 

It  may  convey  to  this  audience  some  idea  of  the  extent  of  that 
sensibility  which  filled  his  parental  bosom,  when  they  are  told  of 
his  acute  distress  at  the  loss  of  a  favourite  son;  and  that  his 
feelings  were  so  concentrated  upon  the  object  of  his  affections, 
that  some  months  after  the  death  of  that  interesting  boy,  when 
passing  through  the  street,  and  accidentally  observing  a  lad 
resembling  in  dress,  person,  and  appearance,  his  departed  son, 
so  instantaneously  and  ardently  were  the  father's  affections  kindled 
into  flame,  that  excluding  all  other  objects  of  sight,  of  hearing,  or 
of  thought,  he  eagerly  rushed  forward  in  pursuit  of  his  supposed 
child,  calling  him  to  his  embrace  by  the  beloved  name  of  his 
"  Walter ! — Walter !" — The  heart  thus  constituted  must  be  an 
abode  of  the  gentlest  feelings  of  our  nature; — a  citadel  where  every 
virtue  may  be  found,  and  must  delight  to  dwell. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


127 


An  interesting  question  here  presents  itself;  what  were  the 
religious  sentiments  of  this  distinguished  man,  whose  mind  was 
so  highly  endowed  with  natural  powers  of  reflection,  and  enriched 
by  such  varied  and  extensive  attainments?  An  intimate  acquain- 
tance with  the  works  of  nature,  cannot  fail  to  elevate  the  mind 
to  the  most  sublime  conceptions  of  the  intelligence  and  power 
of  the  Supreme  Being,  and  at  the  same  time  dilate  the  heart 
with  the  most  grateful  emotions  and  pleasing  views  of  a  super- 
intending Providence.  These  sentiments  and  feelings,  as  I  have 
oftentimes  personally  had  an  opportunity  of  witnessing,  were 
enjoyed  and  expressed  by  Mr.  Clinton  in  their  fullest  extent.  In 
his  last  Discourse  to  the  Bible  Society,  at  its  eleventh  anniversary, 
he  thus  expresses  himself  on  this  subject : — "  To  those  who  have 
observed  the  leading  events  which  have  affected  the  primary 
interests  of  the  human  race,  there  must  appear  an  obvious  con- 
nexion or  concatenation,  demonstrating  with  irresistible  force, 
the  superintending  providence  of  Almighty  God." 

He  was  no  less  a  believer  in  the  doctrines  of  the  Christian  faith : 
reflecting  upon  the  doctrines  of  Christianity,  a  subject  of  the 
deepest  interest  to  mankind,  and  as  he  expressed  it,  involving 
the  most  awful  responsibilities,  he  became  convinced  of  their 
truth,  and  that  the  great  evidence  of  their  divine  origin  was 
manifested  in  the  purity  of  their  ethics,  and  the  superiority  they 
exhibit  over  every  code  that  has  ever  been  framed  or  promulgated 
by  man.  His  Discourses  delivered  at  the  anniversaries  of  the 
bible  and  missionary  societies;  before  the  society  instituted  for 
the  education  of  young  men  for  the  ministry ;  his  address  relative 
to  the  establishment  of  public  schools  for  the  education  of  the 
poor;  his  messages  to  the  legislature;  his  proclamations  as  the 
Chief  Magistrate,  in  setting  apart  days  of  public  thanksgiving,  all 


128 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


evince  his  attachment  to  the  great  interests  of  religion,  and  his 
devotion  to  that  great  and  good  Being  from  whose  bounty  we 
derive  all  that  we  enjoy.  In  one  of  his  addresses*  to  the  Bible 
Society,  speaking  of  the  objects  of  the  anniversary  meetings  of 
that  excellent  institution,  he  observes,  "  they  are  connected  with 
time  and  eternity ; — with  our  present  and  future  state  of  existence. 
That  Christianity  has  elevated  the  character  of  man,  and  blessed 
him  in  his  domestic  connexions,  and  in  his  social  relations,  cannot 
be  denied  by  the  most  obdurate  scepticism."  He  adds,  "  we  must 
indeed  shut  our  ears  against  the  voice  of  experience,  and  our  eyes 
against  the  light  of  truth,  if  we  do  not  yield  implicit  faith  to  the 
exalting  and  meliorating  virtues  of  our  divine  religion.  The  star 
that  attracted  the  wandering  curiosity  of  the  wise  men  of  the  East, 
has  become  a  sun  of  light  to  the  human  race,  and  wherever  its 
radiations  have  reached,  it  has  been  the  parent  of  cultivation, 
of  civilization,  of  knowledge,  and  of  virtue." 

It  is  also  to  be  remarked,  that  men  whose  minds  have  been 
enlarged  by  extensive  knowledge  and  reflection,  who  have  been 
accustomed  to  think  and  reason  upon  all  subjects  with  a  spirit 
of  liberality  and  generous  freedom,  are  not  apt  to  become  bigots 
to  any  peculiar  sect  or  modes  of  faith.  Mr.  Clinton's  liberality 
of  sentiment,  and  charitable  construction  of  the  various  doctrines 
and  ordinances  that  divide  the  religious  world,  was  no  less  appa- 
rent upon  this,  than  upon  every  other  subject  that  occupied  his 
serious  deliberation.  At  the  same  time  that  he  reverenced  the 
sincere  worshipper  of  God,  whatever  may  have  been  his  peculiar 
tenets,  or  even  his  superstition,  he  knew  not  that  sectarian  zeal 


*  See  his  Discourse  at  the  ninth  anniversary,  1825. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


129 


that  weakens  the  strength  and  chills  the  warmth  of  catholic 
charity ;  but  confiding  in  the  mercy  of  him  who 

"  doth  prefer 
Before  all  temples,  th'  upright  heart  and  pure," 

he  knew  not  "  those  sectarian  fires  which  put  out  christian 
light.''*  But  cherishing  the  principles  and  performing  the  duties 
enjoined  by  the  essentials  of  Christianity,  in  which  all  those  vary- 
ing sects  accord,  and  rejoicing  in  the  hopes  and  consolations  which 
religion  and  reason  supply,  he  looked  forward  to  his  dissolution 
with  composure  and  resignation,  prepared  to  meet  the  great  event, 
which  he  manifestly  anticipated  was  not  then  far  distant.  In  the 
last  conversation  which  I  held  with  him  on  the  Friday  preceding  his 
death,  he  evinced  those  feelings  with  his  accustomed  equanimity 
of  manner,  and  characteristic  firmness :  speaking  of  his  disease, 
(the  sounds  of  his  voice  still  vibrate  on  my  ears,)  he  emphatically 
observed,  and  in  the  very  language  of  the  father  of  our  country 
to  his  physician  and  friend,  "  Doctor,  I  am  not  afraid  to  die." 

The  closing  scenes  of  his  illustrious  life  merit  our  regard. 
Having  been  the  fellow-student  of  Mr.  Clinton  when  at  college, 
having  been  his  physician  from  the  time  of  his  first  marriage  in 
1795,  and  during  that  period  been  honoured  by  his  uninterrupted 
friendship,  which  has  ever  been  that  of  an  affectionate  brother, 
I  have  been  enabled  to  become  familiarly  acquainted  with  his 
constitutional  peculiarities  and  temperament:   these,  it  may  be 


*  See  Plea  for  Sacramental  Communion  upon  Catholic  Principles.  By  J.  M.  Mason,  D.D. 


130 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


remarked,  were  of  a  nature  so  vigorous  and  excellent,  that  he 
enjoyed  a  greater  exemption  from  disease  than  falls  to  the  lot 
of  most  men.  As  already  intimated,  an  accident  some  years  since 
occurred,  by  which  to  a  certain  extent  he  was  necessarily  deprived 
of  his  accustomed  exercise;  although  temperate  in  the  extreme 
in  his  habits  of  living,  he  soon  became  plethoric,  at  the  same 
time  that  his  confinement  rendered  him  sensitive  to  the  changes 
of  the  atmosphere.  In  the  autumn  of  1827,  he  was  attacked  with 
a  catarrhal  affection  of  the  throat  and  chest :  as  is  generally  the 
case  with  those  of  a  vigorous  constitution,  and  who  have  long 
enjoyed  uninterrupted  health,  he  was  impatient  of  the  restraints 
which  sickness  imposes,  and  to  a  degree  disregarded  his  disease, 
and  I  might  say,  culpably  omitted  to  employ  the  active  means 
necessary  for  his  relief.  The  result  was  a  congestion  of  the  heart 
and  lungs,  which  ended  in  an  effusion  into  the  cavities  of  those 
viscera,  attended  with  a  corresponding  deposit  in  the  cellular 
membrane  of  the  lower  extremities. 

During  my  last  visit  at  Albany,  the  week  immediately  preceding 
his  dissolution,  I  was  very  much  surprised  at  the  change  which 
had  taken  place  in  the  state  of  his  health,  and  confidentially 
communicated  to  his  eldest  son,  and  to  some  of  his  connexions 
and  friends,  his  imminently  alarming  situation ;  even  too  at  this 
period  he  was  daily  taking  bodily  exercise,  performing  with  his 
characteristic  alacrity  and  energy  his  official  duties  at  the  capitol, 
and  his  mind  directed  to  every  object  except  his  health  and  his 
own  immediate  condition,  of  which  he  was  ever  too  regardless, 
and  at  this  time  totally  unmindful. 

Unprepared  for  these  circumstances,  and  indeed  told  upon  my 
arrival  in  Albany  that  he  was  recovering  his  health,  which  had 
been  impaired,  my  feelings  of  surprise  and  pain  when  I  took 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


131 


my  seat  at  his  side,  will  readily  be  imagined;  his  anxious 
respiration — his  anhelation  upon  the  slightest  motion — his  livid 
countenance,  his  irregular  and  intermitting  pulse — his  swelling 
limbs,  all  indicated  the  dropsical  and  perhaps  organic  affection 
of  the  heart  and  larger  vessels,  and  at  once  pointed  to  the  fatal 
issue  I  thus  confidently  predicted. 

On  the  Friday  preceding  his  death,  after  a  long  conversation  I 
held  with  him  in  his  library,  I  bade  him  a  last  farewell,  under 
the  fullest  conviction,  as  I  confidentially  expressed  to  his  more 
immediate  friends,  that  I  should  never  see  Mr.  Clinton  more.* 

On  the  Monday  following,  the  11th  of  February,  he  performed 
his  ordinary  duties  at  the  capitol ;  rode  a  few  miles  into  the 
country  with  his  family ;  returned  to  town ;  met  some  friends 
at  dinner,  and  afterwards,  as  was  his  habit,  retired  to  his  study 
for  the  transaction  of  official  business,  and  his  accustomed  literary 
pursuits.  While  sitting  in  his  library,  he  was  suddenly  seized  with 
a  sense  of  oppression  and  stricture  across  the  chest :  he  spoke  to 
his  son  sitting  near  him,  who  was  then  writing,  performing  some  duty 
that  had  been  directed  by  his  father,  described  to  him  the  distressful 
and,  as  he  feared,  fatal  sensation  he  experienced.  Medical  aid  was 
instantly  called  for.  By  the  direction  of  his  son,  some  drink  was 
given  him.  He  walked  in  the  hall,  but  soon  returned  to  his  chair 
in  the  library : — the  hand  of  death  was  upon  him — his  head  fell  upon 
his  breast.  A  physician  arrived,  but  too  late  : — all  efforts,  though 
unremittingly  continued  for  some  hours,  to  recall  his  parting  spirit, 
proved  unavailing  : — sense — consciousness — intelligence — had  fled 
for  ever : — Clinton  was  no  more.    The  heart-rending  event  was 


*  See  Appendix,  LL. 


132 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


communicated  to  his  agonized  family ;  and,  with  the  rapidity  of  an 
electric  shock,  pervaded  the  city : — the  house  of  mourning  was 
instantly  surrounded  by  his  neighbours  and  numerous  friends,  who 
could  scarcely  credit  the  reality  of  his  death. — On  the  succeeding 
day,  excepting  the  measures  of  respect  for  his  memory  and  pre- 
paration for  his  funeral  rites,  all  business  was  suspended : — the 
legislative  body, — the  numerous  public  institutions — literary — 
benevolent — commercial — all  partake  of  the  general  gloom  ; — their 
doors  are  closed ; — all  unite  in  the  universal  lamentation — all, 
not  excepting  those  who  had  been  his  political*  opponents,  are 
now  emulous  to  manifest  their  love  and  respect  for  his  memory ; 
to  unite  in  expressions  of  the  loss  they  had  sustained,  and  in 
demonstrations  of  gratitude  for  his  invaluable  and  disinterested 
services.  The  funeral  obsequies  are  prepared — his  remains  are 
conveyed  to  the  tomb,  amid  all  the  solemnities  that  respond  to 
the  deep  sorrow  with  which  every  heart  in  the  community  was 
afflicted  by  this  dispensation  of  Providence. 

To  conclude;  if  the  possession  of  strong  native  powers  of 
mind,  and  those  highly  cultivated  by  extensive  attainments  in  the 
different  departments  of  human  knowledge;  if  an  innate  spirit 
of  patriotism,  quickened  and  directed  by  an  acquaintance  with 
the  various  interests  of  his  country,  and  a  life  devoted  to  the 
unceasing  performance  of  public  duty,  and  expended  in  the 
service  of  his  native  state,  entitle  their  possessor  to  respectful 
notice,  Mr.  Clinton  presents  the  strongest  claims,  not  only  to 
the  affections  of  his  countrymen,  but  to  a  distinguished  place 
among  the  sages,  statesmen,  and  benefactors  of  the  American 


*  See  Appendix,  MM. 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


133 


republic.  It  is  in  the  intellectual  as  in  the  natural  world,  although 
the  expanse  above  is  studded  with  an  infinity  of  bodies,  shedding 
and  diffusing  their  portion  of  light,  a  certain  number  of  greater 
magnitude  and  brilliancy,  command  the  more  exclusive  vision  of 
the  beholder,  and  are  so  many  suns  communicating  their  effulgence 
and  influence  to  other  and  distant  worlds.  In  like  manner,  there 
are  some  intellectual  luminaries  much  more  distinguished  than 
are  the  ordinary  sources  of  light  and  knowledge.  The  Grecian 
and  Roman  republics  had  their  constellations  of  illustrious  men. 
Thcmistocles  and  Epaminondas,  Cincinnatus,  Fabricius,  and  the 
Scipios.  England  has  had  her  Lockes  and  her  Newtons,  her 
Chathams  and  her  Cannings.  And  young  as  our  own  republic 
yet  is,  her  galaxy  is  already  brightened  with  illustrious  names- 
It  were  injustice  not  to  assign  a  like  elevation  to  the  transcendent 
mind  of  Mr.  Clinton,  whose  name,  associated  witli  those  of  Wash- 
ington, Hamilton,  Franklin,  Adams,  Rittenhouse,  Jefferson,  Fulton, 
and  other  American  worthies,  will  ever  be  identified  with  the 
existence  of  his  country,  and  transmitted  with  increasing  lustre  to 
the  latest  posterity. 

"  Micat  inter  omnes, 
Julium  sidus,  vclut  inter  ignes 
Luna  minores." 

Although  withdrawn  from  our  view  at  comparatively  an  early 
period  of  life,  and  in  the  midst  of  his  intellectual  vigour  and 
usefulness,  the  monuments  of  his  glory  are  imperishable.  Youth 
of  our  country!  although  Mr.  Clinton  has  not  left  to  his  im- 
mediate descendants  wealth  and  independence,  to  you,  as  well 
as  to  them,  he  has  left  a  legacy  of  infinitely  greater  value. 

15 


134 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


In  his  life  he  has  left  you  a  splendid  and  animating  example, 
which  points  the  way  to  usefulness  and  fame ;  which  teaches  you 
how  great  are  the  acquirements  which  well  directed  industry,  even 
in  a  short  life,  is  able  to  achieve,  what  public  estimation  and 
encouragement  attend  upon  them,  and  what  honours  and  rewards 
are  the  happy  results — follow  then  in  his  footsteps — cultivate  those 
endowments  of  the  mind,  and  those  affections  of  the  heart,  that 
self-command,  that  dignity,  and  order  of  conduct,  which  distin- 
guished your  great  exemplar — remember  too,  to  cherish  that 
happy  union  of  virtue  and  talents,  upon  which  alone  you  can  build 
your  hopes  of  honour  and  esteem — follow  too  his  great  example 
in  defending  the  liberties  of  our  country,  in  supporting  our  happy 
constitution  of  government,  in  preserving  the  integrity  of  our 
union,  in  framing  and  executing  good  laws,  in  disseminating  useful 
knowledge,  in  alleviating  human  misery,  and  in  promoting  the  hap- 
piness of  man. 

These  principles  as  your  guide,  cannot  fail  to  impart  to  you  the 
greatest  enjoyment  this  world  can  bestow,  that  which  is  derived 
from  a  life  spent  in  the  performance  of  the  duties  you  owe  to  your 
fellow-men,  your  country,  and  your  God.  Such  was  the  man  whose 
death  we  this  day  lament;  whose  talents,  virtues,  and  public 
services,  while  gratitude  holds  its  place  in  the  human  breast, 
can  never  be  forgotten. 

Yes,  my  fellow-citizens,  when  the  present  assembly  shall  sleep 
with  their  fathers ;  when  time  shall  have  obliterated  the  remem- 
brance of  this  day's  feeble  effort  to  present  to  your  view  the  virtues 
and  the  deeds  of  our  departed  friend  and  benefactor,  still — still, 
shall  his  name  be  hallowed  in  the  grateful  remembrance  of  the 
inhabitants  of  his  native  land,  and  generations  yet  unborn  shall 


MEMOIR  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


L35 


gather  round  his  tomb,  and  recalling  the  days  that  are  passed, 
will  utter  in  the  ecstasy  of  feeling,  which  love  of  country  and 
gratitude  inspire, 

HERE  REPOSE  THE  ASHES  OF  OUR  CLINTON. 

Departed  shade,  farewell — thou  art  gone — for  ever  gone — but 
thy  fame  survives  thee  !  and  thou  hast  left  the  influence  of  thy 
great  example,  which  will  render  thy  name  illustrious  so  long  as 
science  and  the  arts  shall  be  cherished — so  long  as  patriotism  and 
benevolence  shall  continue  to  be  virtues,  or  philanthropy  hold 
its  seat  in  the  heart  of  man. 

Benefactor  of  the  human  family,  farewell !  may  the  remembrance 
of  thine  exalted  virtues  purify  our  hearts,  and  thy  character  be  the 
example  of  our  lives. 

"  Semper  honos,  nomenque  tuum,  laudesque  manebunt.'1 


APPENDIX. 


Note  A. — p.  27. 

ANCESTORS  OF  DE  WITT  CLINTON. 

Extracted  from  the  Journal  of  a  relative  of  the  late  Dr.  Joseph  Young,  dated 
April  1  \th,  1807,  in  the  possession  of  Judge  Herttell  of  New- York. 

"Sometime  in  the  year  1727  or  1728,  when  the  whole  connexion  growing 
more  and  more  dissatisfied  with  the  government,  resolved  to  emigrate  to  the 
then  colony  of  New- York ;  and  as  if  bound  together  by  the  indissoluble  ties 
of  consanguinity  and  friendship,  the  greatest  number  of  those  who  had 
emigrated  from  the  north,  with  some  additional  members,  engaged  a  ship 
at  Dublin,  commanded  by  a  Captain  Rymer,  and  all  paid  their  passage 
money  there,  and  had  the  ship  bound  to  them  for  the  faithful  performance 
of  their  agreement.  They  laid  in  a  sufficient  stock  of  provision  for  an 
ordinary  passage,  but  instead  of  a  common  passage,  he  kept  them  at  sea 
twenty-one  weeks  and  three  days.  During  the  passage  they  one  morning 
came  in  full  sight  of  the  coast  of  Virginia,  which  the  boatswain,  who  was 
an  old  seaman,  affirmed  he  knew  perfectly  well,  as  he  had  frequently  been 
on  that  coast  before ;  but  the  captain  called  him  a  lying  skulking  dog,  and 
immediately  ordered  to  put  the  ship  about  and  put  off  to  sea ;  in  consequence 
of  this  unequivocal  disclosure  of  the  captain's  intention  to  famish  them  all 
to  death  at  sea,  William  Armstrong,  my  father's  half-brother,  would  have 
put  him  to  death,  had  he  not  been  forcibly  restrained.  Colonel  Charles 
Clinton,  who  by  his  age  and  superior  abilities,  appears  to  have  been  the  head 


138 


APPENDIX. 


or  chief  of  the  connexion,  who  had  a  better  knowledge  of  the  laws  than  the 
others,  told  them  that  unless  the  other  officers  belonging  to  the  ship  would 
join  them,  their  rising  forcibly  against  the  captain,  would  upon  trial  be 
adjudged  piracy.  But  the  spirits  of  the  officers  were  so  completely  subdued 
by  the  tyrannical  conduct  of  the  captain,  who  had  killed  a  man  on  board 
by  striking  him  on  the  head  with  a  pipe-stave,  that  they  dare  not  join  the 
passengers  against  him.  In  this  shocking  dilemma  the  captain  extorted 
from  them  a  very  considerable  sum  of  money,  as  a  bribe  for  landing  them 
on  any  part  of  the  coast ;  soon  after  this  agreement  he  landed  them  at  Cape 
Cod. 

"  For  several  days  previous  to  their  landing,  their  allowance  had  been 
an  half  biscuit,  and  half  a  pint  of  water  for  twenty-four  hours :  in  consequence 
of  this  cruel  treatment  many  of  the  passengers  died,  and  amongst  this  number 
who  perished  with  famine,  was  Thomas  Armstrong  :  he  was  a  very  worthy 
valuable  man ;  his  son  William,  and  his  daughter  Margery,  shared  the  same 
fate.  It  was  believed  by  the  passengers,  that  the  captain  had  been  bribed 
to  subject  them  to  vexation  and  hardship  to  discourage  emigration.  And 
that  his  motive  for  landing  them  at  Cape  Cod  in  preference  to  New-York  or 
Boston  was,  that  at  that  early  period  he  could  not  have  been  so  easily  prosecuted 
there  for  the  murder  and  piracy  of  which  he  had  been  guilty,  as  at  either 
of  the  above  places.  He  positively  knew  that  he  had  forfeited  his  life,  not 
only  by  killing  the  man  with  the  pipe-stave,  but  also  by  extorting  money 
from  the  passengers  at  sea  as  a  bribe  to  bring  them  to  land ;  for  he  had  sworn 
that  they  should  never  see  land  again,  unless  they  gave  him  the  sum  which 
he  demanded :  but  it  appears  by  their  conduct,  that  although  the  passengers 
had  suffered  so  much  by  the  savage  cruelty  of  the  captain,  that  they  were 
not  actuated  by  the  spirit  of  revenge  or  a  thirst  for  blood ;  they  said  he 
deserves  death,  but  let  him  fall  by  other  hands.  Although  Colonel  Clinton 
was  not  bred  a  mariner,  he  was  an  excellent  mathematician,  and  could  have 
directed  the  course  of  the  ship ;  but  as  he  never  suspected  that  he  would 
have  been  denied  the  use  of  the  instruments  to  make  observations,  he  had 
neglected  to  provide  them,  which  might  have  rendered  it  difficult  to  discover 
his  course  and  distance;  otherwise,  if  the  other  officers  belonging  to  the  ship 


APPENDIX. 


139 


would  have  joined  him,  he  would  have  confined  the  captain  and  taken  the 
command  of  the  ship.  As  the  ship  had  been  insured  in  Dublin,  the  captain 
contrived  to  let  her  drive  from  her  mooring  on  a  stormy  night,  in  which  she 
was  lost.  They  arrived  at  Cape  Cod  in  the  fall,  and  remained  there  until 
spring,  and  then  sailed  for  New-Windsor,  in  Ulster  County,  where  Colonel 
Charles  Clinton,  Alexander  Deniston,  and  my  father,  John  Young,  bought 
three  farms  adjoining  to  each  other,  and  lived  in  the  greatest  friendship  and 
harmony,  and  called  their  neighbourhood  Little  Britain. 

"Colonel  Charles  Clinton,  nephew  to  my  great  grandmother  Margaret,  pos- 
sessed an  acute  genius,  a  penetrating  solid  judgment,  an  extensive  fund  of  useful 
as  well  as  ornamental  knowledge,  with  the  affability  and  polished  manners  of  a 
polite  gentleman.  He  was  a  tall,  straight,  graceful  person,  of  a  majestic  ap- 
pearance. If  he  chanced  to  come  into  company  where  a  number  of  young 
people  were  cheerfully  diverting  themselves,  their  first  impressions  were  those 
of  awe  and  reverence  ;  but  in  the  course  of  a  few  minutes  he  would  enter  into  the 
most  pleasing,  and  frequently  an  instructive  conversation,  winch  soon  dispelled 
their  panic,  and  inspired  them  with  pleasing  and  respectful  confidence.  He 
was  a  Judge  of  the  County  Court,  and  Justice  of  the  Peace  until  he  died ;  and 
a  Colonel  in  the  Army  in  the  war  which  commenced  in  the  year  1756.  He 
married  Elizabeth  Deniston,  sister  to  Alexander,  by  whom  he  had  one 
daughter, — Catharine,  a  sensible,  friendly,  ingenious,  placid  being,  who  was 
married  to  Colonel  James  Mc  Claughry,  as  brave  an  officer  as  America 
could  boast  of ;  she  died  without  issue.  And  also  four  sons,  viz.  Alexander, 
Charles,  James,  and  George.  After  Alexander  had  acquired  an  excellent 
school  education,  he  remained  six  years  in  college  at  Newark,  when  Mr. 
Burr  was  president  ;  he  then  studied  physic  under  Dr.  Middleton  in  New- 
York,  which  he  afterwards  practised  in  Ulster  County  and  parts  adjacent, 
with  great  success  and  reputation.  He  excelled  in  every  thing  to  which  he 
turned  his  attention  ;  he  was  a  good  classic  scholar,  a  great  physician,  a 
considerable  poet,  an  excellent  musician,  and  understood  the  use  of  the 
broad  sword  in  a  superior  degree  ;  but  what  finished  and  gave  lustre  to  a 
truly  great  character  was,  that  he  was  a  most  placid,  agreeable,  benevolent, 
friendly  being,  beloved  and  highly  respected  by  every  person  who  knew  him  ; 


140 


APPENDIX. 


and  I  shall  ever  remember  with  pleasure  and  gratitude,  the  attention  and 
friendship  with  which  he  honoured  me.  He  married  Miss  Maria  Kane,  but 
died  soon  after  of  the  confluent  small-pox,  greatly  and  very  generally  lamented  ; 
his  memory  is  dear  to  many  at  this  day,  and  to  none  more  than  to  Joseph 
Young.  Charles,  the  second  son,  was  a  very  sprightly  lad,  and  had  a  good 
education.  He  also  studied  physic  under  Dr.  Middleton,  and  embarked  as  a 
physician  in  the  expedition  against  the  Havana,  and  was  much  esteemed 
by  the  celebrated  Dr.  Huck.  When  he  returned  he  practised  medicine  with 
success  and  reputation  in  Ulster  County  and  parts  adjacent,  and  died  a 
bachelor,  of  a  lingering  consumption.  James,  like  David  of  old,  had  been 
a  warrior  from  his  youth  up.  After  he  had  obtained  a  good  education,  he 
enlisted  a  company  and  served  with  reputation  as  a  captain  in  the  war  which 
commenced  in  the  year  1756.  He  was  a  general  in  the  continental  army, 
and  signalized  himself  in  endeavouring  to  defend  a  redoubt  on  the  west  bank 
of  the  North  River,  that  was  honoured  by  the  name  of  Fort  Montgomery. 
When  it  became  almost  certain  that  they  would  finally  be  obliged  to  submit 
to  superior  numbers,  General  James  tried  to  persuade  his  brother  George 
to  leave  the  redoubt,  alleging  that  it  would  be  a  greater  injury  to  our 
cause,  to  have  the  Governor  of  the  State  taken  prisoner,  than  if  he  should 
fall  into  their  hands  ;  they,  however,  both  remained  until  it  grew  dark,  and 
were  mixed  with  the  enemy  :  the  Governor  escaped  in  a  boat  to  the  east  side 
of  the  river,  and  James  slid  down  the  very  steep  bank  of  a  creek  which  ran 
near  the  redoubt,  and  fell  into  the  top  of  a  hemlock  tree,  and  made  his 
escape  by  going  up  the  bed  of  the  brook,  in  which  there  was  but  little  water 
at  that  time.  When  the  enemy  rushed  into  the  redoubt,  Colonel  Mc  Claughry, 
and  a  Mr.  James  Humphrey,  the  cock  of  whose  gun  had  been  shot  off,  turned 
back  to  back,  and  defended  themselves  desperately ;  they  were  assailed  on 
all  sides,  and  would  undoubtedly  have  been  killed,  but  a  British  senator  who 
witnessed  their  spirit  and  bravery,  exclaimed  that  it  would  be  a  pity  to  kill 
such  brave  men  ;  they  then  rushed  on  and  seized  them,  and  when  the  Colonel 
was  brought  to  the  British  General  Clinton,  he  asked  where  his  friend  George 
was  ?  The  Colonel  replied,  thank  God,  he  is  safe  beyond  the  reach  of  your 
friendship.    General  James  married  an  amiable  sensible  woman,  of  the  name 


APPENDIX. 


141 


of  De  Witt,  by  whom  he  had  four  sons  ;  viz.  Alexander,  De  Witt,  Charles, 
and  George." 


Note  B.— p.  36. 

Conspicuous  among  those  institutions  to  which  Mr.  Clinton  devoted  a  large 
share  of  his  time  and  energies,  was  the  New- York  Historical  Society.  This 
useful  and  active  association  was  first  organised  in  1804,  and  was  incorporated 
in  1809 ;  and  since  that  period,  through  various  fluctuations,  has  risen  to  be 
the  first  association  of  the  kind  in  the  United  States.  The  first  volume  of  its 
Collections  appeared  in  1809  ;  the  second  in  1814  ;  the  third  in  1821  ;  and  in 
1826  the  fourth  volume.  The  library  of  this  institution,  which  according  to  the 
late  report  of  the  directors,  amounts  to  nearly  eight  thousand  volumes,  is 
extremely  rich  in  matters  pertaining  to  this  country.  Not  a  few  of  the  MS. 
papers  are  such  as  will  throw  much  light  on  the  colonial  and  revolutionary 
history  of  America.  In  1814,  a  petition  was  presented  by  the  society,  to 
the  Honourable  the  Legislature  of  the  State,  praying  for  a  grant  of  money  to 
enable  them  to  adopt  efficient  measures  for  obtaining  from  different  portions 
of  the  United  States,  books,  manuscripts,  and  documentary  information 
relative  to  the  natural,  civil,  ecclesiastical,  and  medical  history  of  the 
country ;  but  particularly  illustrative  and  commemorative  of  the  origin, 
settlement,  and  colonial  transactions  of  this  state.  Mr.  Clinton  wrote  a 
powerful  memorial  to  the  legislature  in  the  society's  behalf.    In  it  he  observes, 

"The  civil  history  of  this  state  may  be  divided  into  four  parts: 

"  1.  When  occupied  by  the  aborigines. 

"2.  When  under  the  government  of  the  Dutch,  which  was  about  half  a 
century. 

"  3.  Its  state  under  England,  which  continued  about  one  hundred  and 
twelve  years,  and  which  includes  the  proprietary  government  of  the  Duke 
of  York,  and  its  government  under  the  kings  of  Great  Britain,  excepting 
about  sixteen  months,  when  it  was  repossessed  by  the  Dutch. 

16 


142 


APPENDIX. 


"  4.  And,  lastly,  its  political  existence  as  a  member  of  an  independent 
government. 

"Before  the  lapse  of  many  years,  the  remnant  of  the  Indian  nations  which 
now  inhabit  the  state  will  experience  the  fate  of  all  sublunary  things.  The 
few  antiquities  of  the  country  ;  the  forts  and  the  tumuli,  which  may  now 
be  easily  explored,  will  be  effaced  by  the  extension  of  cultivation.  The 
natural  history  of  the  man  of  America,  disfigured  and  perverted  as  he  has 
been  by  European  intercourse,  may  still  be  obtained  to  a  considerable  extent; 
his  language  may  be  put  on  record,  and  his  traditions  may  be  perpetuated. 

"  As  before  the  revolution,  the  colonies  of  France  and  Great  Britain  were 
connected  by  vicinity,  by  treaty,  by  trade,  and  by  continual  and  habitual 
intercourse  with  the  Five  Nations,  and  other  Indians  which  occupied  this 
state,  we  can  obtain  valuable  materials  to  illustrate  this  important  period, 
from  the  libraries  and  public  collections  of  those  countries :  many  learned, 
elaborate,  and  interesting  works  have  never  been  seen  in  America ;  some  are 
so  scarce  that  they  cannot  be  procured  without  the  expense  of  transcribing  ; 
and  papers  of  great  moment  have  never  been  printed. 

"  The  regular  minutes  of  the  transactions  of  the  Indian  commissioners  for 
this  colony,  from  1675  to  1751,  as  kept  by  a  secretary  employed  for  the 
purpose,  were  bound  up  in  four  large  folio  volumes.  This  invaluable  collec- 
tion, and  the  subsequent  colonial  records  relative  to  Indian  affairs,  are  not 
now  to  be  found  in  this  state ;  and  they  were  probably  conveyed  away  by 
Sir  John  Johnson,  or  his  agents,  at  the  commencement  of  the  revolution. 
The  loss  of  these  documents  would  produce  a  chasm  in  our  history  that  could 
not  be  supplied  ;  and  we  hope  that  they  may  still  be  retrieved.  Our  concerns 
and  negotiations  with  the  Indians,  since  our  existence  as  a  state,  have  not 
been  preserved  in  regular  and  complete  order.  They  are  scattered  among 
the  bureaus  of  our  chief  magistrates,  or  are  buried  in  the  voluminous  files  of 
the  legislature. 

"  To  obtain  materials  for  the  Dutch  portion  of  our  history,  comprising  an 
interesting  period  of  half  a  century,  we  must  have  recourse  to  the  papers  of 
the  Dutch  West-India  Company,  and  to  the  archives  of  the  then  government 
of  that  nation ;  to  the  Dutch  records  of  some  of  our  counties,  and  in  the 


APPENDIX. 


143 


office  of  the  secretary  of  state ;  to  the  public  offices  in  the  neighbouring 
colonies  with  whose  governments  the  Dutch  had  negotiations;  and  to  several 
books  published  in  the  Dutch  and  Latin  languages,  relative  to  this  country, 
and  which  are  scarcely  known  to  us.  The  darkness  which  hangs  over  this 
branch,  may  be  perceived  in  the  History  of  New-York,  written  by  William 
Smith,  a  work  which  skims  lightly  over  this  interesting  period,  leaving  it 
almost  entirely  unnoticed. 

"  To  supply  that  part  of  our  history  when  we  were  subject  to  Great  Britain, 
the  most  valuable  materials  may  be  obtained  from  various  sources.  From 
Chalmers''  Political  Annals  it  appears,  that  there  are  many  manuscripts 
in  the  Plantation  Office,  entitled  New-York  Entries,  and  New-York  Papers. 
We  find  in  the  catalogue  of  manuscripts  preserved  in  the  British  Museum, 
some  writings  that  refer  particularly  to  this  state;  and  in  the  catalogue 
of  books  belonging  to  that  institution,  are  preserved  many  works  concerning 
America,  in  the  Dutch,  English,  French,  Spanish,  and  Latin  languages, 
affording  a  fund  of  information  important  and  inestimable.  We  also  know 
that  there  are  many  interesting  books  and  manuscripts  relative  to  this  country, 
in  the  library  of  the  society  for  the  propagation  of  the  gospel  in  America  ;  and 
perhaps  much  important  information  may  be  obtained  from  the  public  offices 
in  Canada. 

"  The  history  of  our  country  since  the  commencement  of  the  revolutionary 
war,  is  in  a  better  state  of  preservation  :  but  even  here  how  many  interesting 
events  are  passing  into  oblivion  ;  how  many  important  facts  are  distorted  and 
misrepresented,  how  many  illustrious  achievements  are  forgotten  or  neglected. 
Documents  that  may  illuminate  the  obscure,  explain  the  doubtful,  and 
embalm  the  memories  of  the  good  and  the  great,  may  now  be  drawn  from 
their  dark  abodes,  where  in  a  few  years  they  will  be  forgotten  or  lost.  Letters 
of  distinguished  individuals,  fugitive  pamphlets,  perishable  manuscripts,  ought 
now  to  be  obtained  and  preserved.  The  time  is  precious,  and  not  a  moment 
should  be  lost. 

"  The  only  history  of  this  member  of  the  confederacy  is  that  of  William 
Smith,  which  is  brought  down  to  the  year  1732.  Is  it  too  much  to  say,  that 
the  most  important  is  the  worst  or  least  described  part  of  the  union?" 


144 


APPENDIX. 


This  memorial  had  its  proper  effect  upon  the  constitutional  authorities 
of  the  state,  and  was  followed  by  a  liberal  grant  to  be  raised  by  lottery.  The 
society  having  unfortunately  anticipated  the  avails  of  this  donation,  were 
sometime  involved  in  much  embarrassment,  from  which  they  were  relieved 
only  by  an  additional  grant  by  the  legislature  in  1827.  For  this  effective 
and  timely  aid,  they  are  indebted  to  the  zealous  and  well  directed  efforts  of 
Frederick  De  Peyster,  Jun.  Esq.  For  the  purpose  of  securing  the  grant, 
the  society  unanimously  deputed  Mr.  De  Peyster  to  present  to  the  legislature 
their  claims  and  necessities.  That  gentleman  found  a  majority  of  the  mem- 
bers hostile  to  all  appropriations  whatever.  Committees  in  both  houses  had 
reported  upon  the  low  state  of  the  treasury,  and  the  consequent  inexpediency 
of  making  grants  in  favour  of  the  various  and  important  objects  pending 
before  them.  Mr.  De  Peyster,  notwithstanding  these  discouraging  circum- 
stances, persevered  in  representing  the  value  and  importance  of  preserving 
the  society,  the  nature  and  extent  of  its  difficulties,  the  claims  it  had  upon 
an  enlightened  legislature.  These  representations  prevailed  in  the  lower 
house  with  only  three  dissentient  voices,  and  in  the  senate  by  an  unanimous 
vote. 

In  reference  to  this  subject  Mr.  Clinton  observes,  in  a  letter  to  me,  dated 
April  10th,  1827, — "  This  institution  has  now  lifted  up  its  head,  and  will  I 
hope  once  more  flourish.  The  late  state  grant  is  principally  owing  to  the 
address  and  indefatigable  exertions  of  Major  Depeyster." 

The  most  important  service  in  which  the  society  is  at  present  engaged, 
is  the  publication  of  a  new  and  improved  History  of  the  State  of  New-York, 
by  the  late  historian  William  Smith.  The  materials  of  this  work  have  been 
received  from  the  Hon.  William  Smith,  the  son  of  the  late  historian,  and 
Chief  Justice  of  Canada.  Upon  my  making  known  to  Mr.  Smith  the  object 
of  the  society,  he  with  great  liberality  has  presented  to  the  society  the  MSS. 
left  by  his  father,  what  embrace  the  history  down  to  the  year  1762. 

The  succession  of  presidents  of  this  society  are,  in  1804,  Egbert  Benson, 
under  whom  the  association  was  incorporated ;  1816,  Gouverneur  Morris  ; 
1817,  De  Witt  Clinton  ;  1820,  David  Hosack  ;  1827,  James  Kent. 


APPENDIX. 


I  15 


Note  C— p.  37. 

The  consideration  in  which  Mr.  Clinton  was  held  as  a  diligent  and  suc- 
cessful cultivator  of  the  natural  sciences,  was  becoming  daily  more  manifest. 
I  have  stated  that  his  name  was  enrolled  as  a  member  of  several  of  the  most 
efficient  institutions  organized  for  this  purpose  in  the  United  States,  as  well 
as  of  those  abroad.  He  was  lately  admitted  an  honorary  member  of  that 
enterprising  society,  the  New-York  Lyceum  of  Natural  History ;  and  his 
merits  were  so  highly  appreciated  in  Europe,  that  his  late  distinguished 
friend  and  correspondent,  Sir  James  Edward  Smith,  the  President  of  the 
Linnaean  Society  of  London,  was  about  to  recommend  him  as  a  fellow  of  the 
Royal  Society  of  London.  "  I  shall  be  proud  to  sign  his  certificate  for  that 
purpose,'1  says  Sir  James,  in  a  letter  to  myself,  "  and  will  confer  with  Sir 
Joseph  Banks  on  the  subject.11  An  honour  which  the  public  services  and 
zeal  of  Mr.  Clinton  in  natural  history  justly  entitled  him  to. 

It  has  been  remarked  that  Mr.  Clinton's  collections  in  natural  history  were, 
for  their  extent,  extremely  valuable  to  those  who  are  solicitous  of  information 
concerning  the  natural  treasures  of  our  country.  The  excavations  effected 
during  the  route  of  the  Grand  Canal,  supplied  him  with  numerous  interesting 
fossils,  and  his  repeated  excursions  through  the  western  country,  enabled 
him  to  observe  many  productions  that  might  not  otherwise  have  come  to  his 
knowledge.  It  was  during  one  of  these  excursions,  that  he  observed  in 
the  district  of  Coventry  about  Rome,  a  species  or  variety  of  wheat  which  he 
deemed  indigenous.  In  the  letters  of  Hibernicus,  which  are  usually  ascribed 
to  Mr.  Clinton,  he  thus  speaks  of  this  plant. 

"  The  novelty  of  the  idea  pleased  me  so  much,  that  I  pursued  the  discovery 
through  all  its  labyrinths  and  ramifications.  Some  years  ago  it  was  dis- 
covered in  wet  soil,  and  in  a  beaver  meadow  near  Western,  and  also  in  a 
swamp  covered  with  woods  near  Rome.  Its  stalk  is  more  compact,  and 
its  leaves  larger,  than  that  of  the  common  wheat.  Its  height  is  also  greater, 
and  except  having  short  beards  at  the  apex,  it  is  in  other  respects  bald.  It  is 
said  to  resist  the  power  of  frost,  and  to  be  proof  against  winter  killing. 


146 


APPENDIX. 


"  Is  this  wheat  indigenous,  or  was  it  imported  and  accidentally  conveyed 
to  the  places  where  it  is  found  ?  If  the  latter,  why  is  not  wheat  found 
growing  wild  in  more  cultivated  parts  of  the  country  ?  I  am  persuaded  that 
it  is  an  indigenous  plant ;  and  if  so,  it  may  be  considered  one  of  the  greatest 
discoveries  of  the  age.  It  is  the  vegetable  destined  by  nature  for  this  climate, 
and  it  casts  light  upon  the  natural  history  of  the  most  important  of  the 
cerealia  which  has  hitherto  been  enveloped  in  obscurity. 

"  Wheat  grows  in  the  old  world  from  Egypt  to  Siberia,  upwards  of  thirty 
degrees  of  latitude.  Pennant  says  that  wheat  will  ripen  as  high  as  latitude 
sixty-two  north,  but  so  uncertain  is  the  crop  throughout  Sweden,  that  it  is 
called  the  seed  of  repentance.  A  species  of  wheat  which  is  called  Siberian, 
and  which  has  been  found  growing  wild  in  that  country,  ripens  in  a  latitude 
still  more  north  than  that  laid  down  by  Pennant.  Kaimes  observes,  that — 
1  Writers  upon  natural  history  have  been  solicitous  to  discover  the  original 
climate  of  wheat,  rice,  barley,  &c.  (which  must,  from  the  creation,  have 
grown  spontaneously)  but  without  much  success.  The  original  climate  of 
plants  left  to  nature  cannot  be  a  secret,  but  in  countries  well  peopled, 
the  plants  mentioned  are  not  left  to  nature  ;  the  seeds  are  carefully  gathered 
and  stored  up  for  food.  As  this  practice  could  not  fail  to  make  these  seeds 
rare,  agriculture  was  early  thought  of,  which  by  introducing  plants  into  new 
soils  and  new  climates,  has  rendered  the  original  climate  obscure.  If  we  can 
trace  that  climate  it  must  be  in  regions  destitute  of  inhabitants,  or  but  thinly 
peopled.  Anson  found  in  the  island  Juan  Fernandez  many  spots  of  ground 
covered  with  oats.  While  the  French  possessed  Fort  Dauphin,  in  the  island 
of  Madagascar,  they  raised  excellent  wheat.  That  station  was  deserted 
many  years  ago,  and  wheat  to  this  day  grows  naturally  among  the  grass  in 
great  vigour.  In  the  country  about  Mount  Tabor,  in  Palestine,  barley  and 
oats  grow  spontaneously.  In  the  kingdom  of  Siam,  there  are  many  spots 
where  rice  grows  year  after  year  without  any  culture.  Diodorus  Siculus 
is  our  authority  for  saying,  that  in  the  territory  of  Leontinum  and  in  other 
places  of  Sicily,  wheat  grew  wild  without  any  culture.  And  it  does  so  at 
present  about  Mount  Etna.'  Diodorus  Siculus  also  says  that  Isis  was  the 
discoverer  of  wheat  and  barley,  and  that  Osiris  taught  the  manner  of  cultiva- 


APPENDIX. 


147 


tion.    And  according  to  Berosus,  Mesopotamia  abounded  with  wild  wheal 
amongst  the  other  indigenous  plants. 
"  Tibullus  says  of  Osiris, 

Primus  aratra  manu  solcrti  fecit  Osiris. 
Et  teneram  ferro  sollicitavi  humum. 

"  And  Ovid  thus  speaks  of  Ceres  : 

Prima  Ceres  unco  terram  dimovit  aratro, 
Prima  dedit  leges. 

"  Why  should  not  wheat  grow  spontaneously  in  New-York  as  well  as  in 
Sicily,  Egypt,  Mesopotamia,  or  Siberia?  And  the  evidence  of  the  fact  is  as 
complete  in  this  particular  as  the  nature  of  the  case  will  admit.  The  plant 
was  found  in  a  wild  state  in  places  remote  from  thick  settlement,  which 
had  never  been  cultivated,  and  it  possesses  peculiar  characteristics  and 
distinctive  qualities.  Besides,  rye  is  found  in  a  wild  state,  and  it  was  fre- 
quently seen  growing  spontaneously  before  the  settlement  of  the  country. 
Lieutenant  Governor  Mercer,  of  Virginia,  thus  writes  of  this  plant  a  long 
time  before  the  revolutionary  war  : — '  The  wild  rye  which  grows  every  where 
in  the  Ohio  country,  is  a  species  of  the  rye  which  is  cultivated  by  the 
Europeans.  It  has  the  same  bearded  ear,  and  produces  a  farinaceous  grain. 
The  ear  and  grain  in  the  wild  state  of  this  plant  are  less,  and  the  beard  of  the 
ear  is  longer,  than  those  of  the  cultivated  rye,  which  makes  this  wild  plant 
resemble  more  the  rye  grass  in  its  appearance ;  but  it  differs  in  no  other 
respect  from  the  rye,  and  it  shoots  its  spontaneous  vegetation  about  the 
middle  of  November,  as  the  cultivated  rye  doth.' 

"As  the  indigenous  existence  of  rye  in  this  country  is  established  beyond 
question,  there  can  be  no  good  reason  to  doubt  the  growth  of  wheat.  This 
curious  fact  in  natural  history  ought  to  be  fully  investigated  and  illustrated.1' 

Mr.  Clinton  forwarded  to  his  friends  abroad  a  quantity  of  this  grain,  in  the 
hopes  of  its  successful  cultivation  in  the  old  world.     But  as  Sir  James 


148 


APPENDIX. 


Edward  Smith  writes,  in  a  letter  dated  April  1821,  the  experiments  instituted 
for  its  culture  failed.  "  These  experiments  required  time  :  they  consequently 
proved  unfavourable  as  to  the  qualities  of  the  wheat  ascribed  to  it  by  Mr. 
Clinton."  It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  success  did  not  crown  these  efforts 
at  the  cultivation  of  the  wild  wheat ;  still  the  inquiry  is  open  and  ought 
to  be  pursued.    Dr.  Paris  tells  us  in  his  late  work  on  Diet, — 

"  There  is  scarcely  a  vegetable  that  we  at  present  employ  that  can  be 
found  growing  naturally.  BufTon  states  that  our  wheat  is  a  factitious  pro- 
duction, raised  to  its  present  condition  by  the  art  of  agriculture.  Rice,  rye, 
barley,  or  even  oats,  are  not  to  be  found  wild  ;  that  is  to  say,  growing 
naturally  in  any  part  of  the  earth ;  but  have  been  altered  by  the  industry 
of  mankind,  from  plants  not  now  resembling  them  even  in  such  a  degree 
as  to  enable  us  to  recognise  their  relatives.  The  acrid  and  disagreeable 
opium  graveolens,  has  thus  been  transformed  into  delicious  celery ;  and  the 
colewort,  a  plant  of  scanty  leaves,  not  weighing  altogether  half  an  ounce, 
has  been  improved  into  cabbage,  the  leaves  of  which  weigh  many  pounds, 
or  into  a  cauliflower  of  considerable  dimensions,  being  only  the  embryo  of  a 
few  buds,  which,  in  their  natural  state,  would  not  have  weighed  many  grains. 
The  potatoe  again,  the  introduction  of  which  has  added  many  millions  to 
our  population,  derives  its  origin  from  a  small  acrid  bitter  root,  which  grows 
wild  in  Chili  and  Monte  Video.1'* 

The  Linnaean  Society  of  Natural  History  of  Paris,  having  established 
a  branch  of  their  institution  in  New-York,  Mr.  Clinton  at  the  anniversary 
of  the  Linnaean  festival  in  May  1824,  as  president  of  the  day,  addressed 
this  association  in  substance  as  follows : 

"  It  is  perhaps  proper,  and  it  certainly  cannot  be  deemed  exceptionable, 
to  introduce  the  proceedings  of  this  day  by  an  exposition  of  the  causes  of  its 
celebration.  This  day  is  the  anniversary  of  the  birth-day  of  Linnaeus,  one 
of  those  illustrious  men  who  have  enlightened  the  world.    Natural  science, 


*  See  some  interesting  observations  relative  to  the  native  potatoe,  in  the  Horticultural 
Transactions  of  London,  and  in  the  New-York  Farmer  and  Horticultural  Repository. 


APPENDIX. 


149 


which  comprises  a  definition  and  investigation  of  all  the  material  substances 
that  exist,  whether  in  an  organic  or  inorganic  shape,  has  from  the  earliest 
periods  engaged  the  attention,  and  employed  the  faculties  of  philosophers. 
Some  of  the  most  beautiful  and  sublime  images  and  illustrations  in  Holy  writ, 
are  derived  from  this  source  :  and  Solomon,  who  is  pronounced  to  have 
been  wiser  than  all  men,  spoke  of  trees  from  the  cedar  tree  that  is  in  Lebanon, 
even  unto  the  hyssop  that  springeth  out  of  the  wall.  He  spake  also  of  beasts, 
and  of  fowls,  and  of  creeping  things,  and  of  fishes.  This  enumeration 
embraces  almost  all  the  principal  objects  of  natural  history.  The  most  eminent 
naturalist  of  Greece  was  Aristotle,  and  of  Rome,  Pliny.  The  works  of  the 
latter  particularly  are  a  treasure  of  useful  information,  although  disfigured 
by  the  interpolations  of  fiction.  After  a  long  night  of  Gothic  darkness,  the 
rays  of  knowledge  again  gladdened  the  earth :  an  inquiring  spirit  went 
forth,  and  vast  collections  of  useful  information  were  made,  but  they  were 
for  a  long  time  in  a  state  of  chaos  and  mingled  with  fable.  The  transcendent 
merits  of  Linnaeus  consists  not  only  in  enlarging  the  sphere  of  natural 
science,  but  in  devising  a  system  by  which  an  object  could  be  recognised 
from  the  description,  and  in  arranging  all  known  substances,  whether  animate 
or  inanimate,  in  their  appropriate  classes,  orders,  genera,  and  species.  From 
that  period  natural  history  assumed  its  due  rank  in  the  scale  of  usefulness 
and  estimation;  discovery  has  been  heaped  upon  discovery;  and  every  region 
of  the  globe  has  been  explored  to  augment  the  riches  of  science,  and  to 
increase  the  cabinets  of  naturalists. 

"  The  Systema  Naturae  of  Linnaeus,  like  all  other  human  works,  is 
not  without  its  imperfections  ;  and  he  has  been  followed  by  different  de- 
scriptions of  scientific  men.  One  class  was  opposed  to  the  system  on  the 
ground  that  it  offered  nothing  worthy  of  approbation,  and  was  either  intrin- 
sically erroneous,  or  greatly  inferior  to  the  old  arrangements.  Another  class, 
allured  by  the  glory  which  surrounded  him,  and  desirous  of  establishing  equal 
if  not  superior  claims  to  celebrity,  has  gone  on  to  multiply  theories  and 
systems,  to  degrade  the  science  by  nominal  and  spurious  discoveries,  and 
to  darken  it  by  barbarous  nomenclatures.  A  third  class  has,  with  a  profound 
reverence  for  its  great  master,  endeavoured  to  correct  his  errors,  to  supply 

17 


150 


APPENDIX. 


his  deficiencies,  and  to  push  his  discoveries  and  improvements  to  the  utmost 
verge  of  practicability.  The  result  of  these  various  enterprises  of  genius 
and  science  has,  upon  the  whole,  been  very  propitious ;  but  such  great  con- 
fusion has  notwithstanding  occurred,  that  another  Linnaeus  is  required  to 
extricate  the  student  and  the  inquirer  from  the  perplexities  which  surround 
their  walks  and  bewilder  their  progress. 

"Some  of  the  most  distinguished  savans  of  France,  sensible  of  these  embar- 
rassments and  difficulties,  and  desirous  of  concentrating  their  powers  in  a 
common  focus  for  the  promotion  of  science,  have  established  a  Linnaean 
Society,  of  which  the  illustrious  Lacepede  is  president.  The  name  which 
they  have  adopted,  evinces  their  preference  for  the  system  of  Linnaeus. 
They  have  already  published  interesting  works,  have  sent  enlightened  apostles 
into  different  parts  of  the  globe,  to  communicate  and  to  acquire  information, 
and  they  have  established  scientific  colonies  in  both  hemispheres.  The  society 
now  convened,  is  a  branch  of  the  institution  of  Paris.  Several  distinguished 
devotees  of  natural  knowledge  now  present,  are  members,  and  Mr.  Jefferson 
is  an  honorary  associate,  and  has  taken  a  warm  interest  in  its  prosperity. 
In  order  that  due  homage  might  be  rendered  to  the  memory  of  Linnaeus,  that 
the  most  animated  incentives  might  be  applied  to  the  advancement  of  know- 
ledge, and  that  the  road  to  the  temple  of  natural  science,  might  be  adorned 
with  the  offerings  of  genius,  brightened  by  the  smiles  of  beauty,  and 
cheered  by  panegyrics,  the  natal  day  of  the  philosopher  of  Sweden  was 
selected  for  a  grand  celebration  ;  which  should  unite  innocent  amusement 
and  solid  instruction,  and  produce  impressions  propitious  to  the  progress 
of  the  natural  sciences.  With  this  view  we  have  now  assembled  ;  and  if 
any  of  the  ceremonies  of  the  day  shall  not  be  strictly  in  unison  with  the 
prevailing  taste  of  this  country,  let  it  be  understood  that  the  ritual  is  pre- 
scribed by  the  parent  institution.  And  as  the  object  is  to  please  all,  without 
offending  any,  it  is  hoped  that  our  proceedings  will  not  in  any  respect  be 
viewed  as  a  frivolous  display,  or  as  ostentatious  pageantry. 

"  The  votaries  of  science  in  all  parts  of  the  civilized  world,  are  now 
crowning  the  tomb  of  Linnaeus  with  the  laurels  of  glory,  and  offering  up 


APPENDIX. 


If)  I 


thanks  to  the  Source  of  all  light,  for  having  devoted  such  a  master  spirit 
to  the  illumination  of  a  benighted  world. 

"  The  place  which  I  now  occupy,  would  be  more  suitably  filled  by  some 
who  are  present,  who  have  made  greater  advances  in  science,  and  who  have 
reflected  honour  on  their  country,  by  their  acquisitions  and  investigations. 
But  I  have  been  induced  to  appear  in  it,  not  from  any  ambitious  aspiration 
after  distinction,  or  any  idle  devotion  to  show,  but  from  the  suggestions  of 
my  associates,  that  it  might  be  of  service  to  the  cause  of  science  ;  and  such 
an  intimation  from  a  quarter  so  respectable,  I  can  never  pass  over  with 
neglect.  Many  of  the  hours  which  I  could  spare  from  the  pursuits  of  an 
active  life,  and  from  the  studies  immediately  connected  with  my  public 
avocations,  have  been  devoted  to  natural  science ;  and  the  enthusiasm  which 
I  cherish  on  this  subject,  is  justified  and  enhanced  by  every  contemplative 
view  and  every  elaborate  investigation. 

"  What  a  spacious  field  of  inquiry  offers  in  view  !  What  a  wide  unbounded 
prospect  lies  before  us !  What  ever-during  honours  must  the  various  depart- 
ments of  zoology  prepare  for  the  fortunate  investigator  !  The  boundless 
regions  of  botany  will  furnish  on  every  exploration  chaplets  and  garlands 
of  glory.  Researches  into  the  mineral  kingdom  will  produce  treasures  of 
renown  more  valuable  than  the  gold  of  Ophir,  or  the  diamonds  of  Golconda. 
The  genius  of  philosophy  has  not  yet  penetrated  the  depths  of  geology,  nor 
proceeded  far  beyond  the  alphabet  or  the  horn-book.  Theory  has  followed 
theory,  and  speculation  has  supplanted  speculation.  The  imagination  has 
been  consulted  more  than  the  judgment,  and  the  airy  castles  of  hypothesis 
have  dazzled  the  fancy  without  enlightening  the  understanding.  After  a  vast 
accumulation  of  facts,  and  perhaps  a  long  afffux  of  time,  some  Bacon  or 
Linnaeus  will  rise  up  and  change  it  from  romance  into  science.  Chemistry 
sprang  from  the  crucible  of  the  alchemist,  like  Pallas  from  the  head  of  Jove ; 
and  even  the  erroneous  movements  of  scientific  investigation  will  finally 
contribute,  by  a  heaven-directed  impulse,  to  the  cause  of  useful  knowledge. 

"  With  these  animating  prospects,  with  these  exalted  inducements,  let 
us  proceed  to  the  duties  of  the  day,  ever  bearing  in  mind  that  science  is 


152 


APPENDIX. 


honour,  and  that  knowledge  is  power ;  and  that  all  their  ways  are  ways 
of  pleasantness,  and  all  their  paths  are  peace." 

In  the  Discourse  I  have  made  reference  to  Mr.  Clinton's  papers  on  natural 
science,  which  appeared  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Literary  and  Philo- 
sophical Society  of  New-York,  in  those  of  the  Lyceum  of  Natural  History,  and 
in  the  New-York  Medical  and  Physical  Journal.  There  are  other  papers  of  his 
which  embrace  inquiries  instituted  by  himself,  which  have  not  been  published. 
He  laboured  with  much  earnestness  to  vindicate  the  character  of  our  abori- 
gines ;  of  this  no  other  proof  need  be  adduced  than  his  Historical  Address. 
He  further  corrected  some  prominent  errors  of  Father  Le  Hontan.  On  that 
curious  product,  the  canal  cement,  he  wrote  at  considerable  length  :  and  his 
geological  researches  would  have  formed  a  most  valuable  body  of  information 
to  scientific  men  on  this  subject.  Mr.  Clinton  sustained  the  Wernerian 
theory,  though  he  considered  that  philosophy  had  advanced  no  farther  than 
the  mere  elements  of  geological  science. 


Note  D. — p.  48. 

Of  that  noble  and  extensive  charity,  the  New-York  Hospital,  Mr.  Clinton 
ever  proved  a  uniform  and  effectual  supporter.  It  is  well  known  that  the 
foundation  of  this  association  was  formed  by  the  enterprise  and  zeal  of  the 
late  Dr.  Samuel  Bard,  under  the  colonial  administration  of  Lt.  Governor  Sir 
Henry  Moore.  The  provisions  for  the  support  of  this  institution,  indepen- 
dently of  state  grants  at  divers  times,  not  being  deemed  adequate  for  carrying 
into  effect  by  the  governors,  the  benevolent  views  which  they  had  early 
formed  for  the  organization  of  a  State  Asylum  for  those  who  laboured  under 
mental  alienation,  the  late  Thomas  Eddy  and  Governor  Clinton,  aided  by  a 
few  active  philanthropists,  obtained  the  passage  of  an  act  of  the  legislature, 
by  which  was  founded  the  Bloomingdale  Asylum  for  the  Insane. 

Mr.  Eddy  was  for  a  long  time  attentive  to  the  subject  of  insanity  :  he  read 
almost  every  thing  that  appeared  concerning  it.  His  correspondence  with 
medical  men  engaged  in  the  treatment  of  it,  and  with  those  who  held  a 


APPENDIX. 


153 


principal  direction  in  the  afl'airs  of  Lunatic  Asylums,  more  especially  with  his 
old  friend  Mr.  Tuke,  of  the  Retreat  at  York,  his  intimate  acquaintance  with 
the  results  of  different  methods  of  treatment,  adopted  in  the  various  establish- 
ments in  Great  Britain,  as  well  as  in  those  of  the  Bicetre  and  other  hospitals 
in  France,  all  these  matters  so  wholly  engrossed  his  mind  for  a  considerable 
period,  that  we  can  readily  assign  a  cause  for  his  unwearied  application  in 
behalf  of  the  amelioration  of  this  class  of  our  fellow-beings,  and  the  hopes 
he  so  ardently  cherished,  of  being  able  to  do  good  by  the  appropriation  of 
his  talents  and  labour.  In  Mr.  Clinton  he  found  a  kindred  spirit  and 
powerful  coadjutor. 

This  institution  is  deservedly  the  pride  of  the  state ;  and  it  is  no  disparage- 
ment of  the  services  of  others  to  affirm,  that  without  the  conjoined  efforts 
of  Clinton  and  Eddy,  the  magnificent  appropriations  of  1816  would  not  have 
been  effected.  To  distant  readers  the  following  notice  of  this  establishment 
may  prove  interesting.  It  was  drawn  up  by  Dr.  John  W.  Francis,  and 
published  shortly  after  the  Governors  had  commenced  their  undertaking. 

"  Nothing  has  so  greatly  contributed  to  give  New-York  that  elevated 
standing  which  she  may  fairly  claim  among  her  sister  states,  as  the  splendid 
patronage  which  she  has  uniformly  bestowed  on  public  institutions.  Under 
her  royal  government,  she  was  not  indifferent  to  the  value  of  knowledge ; 
and  the  provision  for  the  endowment  of  Columbia  College  was,  we  believe, 
on  a  scale  of  magnitude  superior  to  that  of  any  of  the  other  colonial  semina- 
ries. In  adverting  to  the  records  of  our  legislature  since  our  republican 
confederacy,  we  find  her  solicitude  for  intellectual  improvement  manifested 
in  frequent  liberal  donations.  Nor  does  she  appear  to  be  wearied  in  well 
doing.  Her  recent  provisions  for  science  and  humanity,  are  no  less  evidence 
of  her  increased  wealth  and  resources,  than  of  the  deep  conviction  which 
her  rulers  entertain  of  the  blessings  thence  to  be  derived  to  her  people. 
The  wisdom  of  her  councils  have  been  answered  by  correspondent  effects  ; 
and  the  present  flourishing  condition  of  her  Medical  Schools,  the  New-York 
Hospital  and  Penitentiary,  are  proofs  of  the  salutary  results  of  her  legisla- 
tive acts. 

"  We  have  been  led  to  these  remarks  in  consequence  of  observing  the  new 


154 


APPENDIX. 


asylum  for  the  insane,  now  erecting  in  the  vicinity  of  this  city.  Most  of  the 
institutions  of  a  similar  kind  established  in  Great  Britain  and  on  the  conti- 
nent, so  far  as  we  are  acquainted  with  them,  we  are  convinced  are  inferior 
to  the  present  undertaking,  in  the  magnificence  of  the  design,  and  the  public 
spirited  benevolence  of  its  projectors.  It  is  with  American  feelings  that 
we  anticipate  the  completion  of  this  great  work.  In  nothing  can  the  power 
of  the  state  be  more  nobly  exerted  than  in  such  ample  provision  for  a  portion 
of  its  population,  who  are  equally  unconscious  of  the  blessings  they  receive, 
and  of  the  hand  which  confers  them. 

"In  the  year  1807,  the  enlightened  governors  of  the  New- York  Hospital 
erected  an  institution  for  the  management  of  the  insane,  on  a  portion  of 
the  grounds  in  this  city  attached  to  that  excellent  charity.  The  institution 
then  built  was  calculated  to  contain  between  seventy-five  and  eighty  patients, 
and  has  answered  most  happily  the  purposes  intended.  But  though  excellent 
in  its  plan,  this  limited  building  having  been  found  utterly  inadequate  to 
accommodate  the  increased  number  of  insane  patients,  the  legislature  in 
1816,  determined  on  the  erection  of  a  new  building,  commensurate  with 
the  resources  of  the  state,  and  equal  to  the  largest  demands  that  may  be 
made  from  all  parts  of  the  union  on  its  benevolence.  The  site  of  this  truly 
national  edifice  was  judiciously  fixed  about  seven  miles  from  the  city  of 
New-York,  near  the  banks  of  the  Hudson  river,  and  commands  one  of  the 
most  extensive  and  interesting  views  in  the  United  States.  The  plan  of  the 
building  is  the  design  of  Thomas  C.  Taylor,  Esq.  The  front  view  is  four 
hundred  and  fifteen  feet  by  one  hundred  and  eighty,  which  includes  the 
wings  ;  the  whole  is  three  stories  high,  exclusive  of  the  basement  story,  and 
is  intended  to  contain  two  hundred  and  fifty  rooms.  The  central  part,  which 
is  now  in  a  great  state  of  forwardness,  is  two  hundred  and  eleven  feet  in 
front  by  sixty  feet  in  depth,  and  is  built  of  brown  hewn  stone  of  excellent 
appearance  and  of  the  most  durable  kind.  The  foundation-stone  was  laid 
by  the  governors  of  our  City  Hospital,  on  the  9th  of  May  last. 

"  In  considering  the  nature  and  extent  of  this  great  undertaking,  surpassing 
any  thing  of  a  like  nature  either  in  this  country  or  in  Europe,  it  would  be 
injustice  not  to  mention  with  emphatic  approbation,  the  wisdom  and  benevo- 


APPENDIX. 


155 


lence  of  those  who  first  urged  its  claims  on  the  public  attention,  and  of  the 
legislature  which  established  it.  To  that  enlightened  philanthropist,  Thomas 
Eddy,  whose  disinterested  feelings  for  the  calamities  of  his  species,  have 
been  evinced  by  an  active  course  of  exertion  in  so  many  ways  for  more  than 
thirty  years,  the  state  of  New-York  is  in  an  especial  manner  indebted  for 
this  new  instance  of  his  benevolence.  The  liberal  views  of  the  board  of 
governors  of  the  New-York  Hospital,  have  been  long  known  and  admitted, 
by  those  who,  either  in  the  capacity  of  patient  or  of  pupil,  have  partaken 
of  the  benefits  of  which  they  are  the  dispensers  ;  and  the  same  wisdom,  which 
in  1769,  founded  the  institution  under  the  venerable  Dr.  Bard,  and  has 
directed  that  excellent  charity  so  many  years,  will,  in  the  continued  efforts 
of  Matthew  Clarkson,  Thomas  Franklin,  John  Murray,  jun.  Peter  A.  Jay, 
G.  Aspinwall,  Hugh  Williamson,  and  others  of  that  benevolent  association, 
be  attended  with  equally  happy  results  in  its  new  and  enlarged  sphere  of 
action.  It  may  be  confidently  hoped  that  this  new  retreat  will  prove  a  place 
of  refuge,  and  the  means  of  restoration  to  a  numerous  class  of  our  fellow-men: 
and  when  it  is  considered  to  whom  is  committed  the  superintendence  of 
the  erection  of  this  asylum,  we  are  satisfied  that  it  will  be  no  less  honourable 
to  the  talents  of  Thomas  C.  Taylor  as  an  architect,  than  to  his  benevolence 
as  a  man,  his  services  being  a  free-will  offering,  and  not  admitting  of 
pecuniary  reward." 


Note  E. — p.  19. 

This  measure  of  providing  for  the  rearing  up  of  competent  teachers,  was 
among  the  last  suggestions  of  Mr.  Clinton's  mind.  Few  can  be  ignorant 
of  the  fact,  that  many  of  our  schools  have  deteriorated  in  character,  and 
ultimately  fallen  into  disgrace  from  the  paucity  of  talents  and  want  of 
ability  in  those  commissioned  as  instructors.  The  plan  of  Mr.  Clinton 
applied  the  proper  corrective  to  the  evil.  His  services  in  behalf  of  the 
common  school  fund  of  New-York,  were  such  as  to  challenge  the  approbation 
equally  of  his  most  decided  political  opponents,  as  of  his  uniform  friends. 


156 


APPENDIX. 


In  this  important  business  he  never  tired.  From  its  foundation  in  1812, 
to  the  close  of  his  life,  he  was  consulted  on  every  measuse  calculated  to 
improve  and  render  more  available  this  liberal  and  magnificent  provision 
in  behalf  of  useful  knowledge.  One  who  well  knew  his  exertions  on  this 
head,  Gideon  Hawley,  Esq.  thus  writes  to  me  : — "  Participating  in  common 
with  you  and  many  others,  in  veneration  for  the  character  and  memory  of 
Governor  Clinton,  I  am  happy  to  avail  myself  of  this  occasion  to  bear  testi- 
mony to  the  great  interest  which  he  always  took  in  the  establishment  of 
our  system  of  common  schools.  While  I  held  the  office  of  superintendant, 
I  had  often  occasion  to  consult  him  on  subjects  connected  with  my  official 
duty:  he  was  always  ready  to  assist  with  his  counsel  and  advice;  and  it  is 
a  matter  of  personal  knowledge  with  me,  that  he  has  rendered  the  most 
important  services,  not  only  in  the  first  organization  of  the  system,  but  in  all 
the  subsequent  stages  of  its  progress.11 

In  his  speech  to  the  legislature  in  1818,  Mr.  Clinton  states  : — The  fund  ap- 
propriated to  common  schools  consist  of  about  one  million  of  dollars,  and  eighty 
thousand  acres  of  land.  The  income  for  distribution  this  year  is  60,000  dollars. 
Having  participated  in  the  first  establishment  of  the  Lancasterian  system 
in  this  country,  having  carefully  observed  its  progress,  and  witnessed  its 
benefits,  I  can  confidently  recommend  it  as  an  invaluable  improvement, 
which  by  a  wonderful  combination  of  economy  in  expense,  and  rapidity  of 
instruction,  has  created  a  new  era  in  education  ;  and  I  am  desirous  that  all 
our  common  schools  should  be  supplied  with  teachers  of  this  description. 
As  this  system  operates  with  the  same  efficacy  in  education,  that  labour-saving 
machinery  does  in  the  useful  arts,  it  will  be  readily  perceived  that  it  is 
peculiarly  adapted  to  this  country. 

For  if  by  this  means  one  teacher  can  perform  the  function  of  ten,  and  if  a 
pupil  can  learn  in  one  week  as  much  as  he  would  in  one  month  in  the  common 
way,  it  is  evident  that  more  wealth,  more  labour,  more  time,  and  more 
industry,  can  be  devoted  to  the  ordinary  occupations  of  life  without  interfering 
with  the  dispensation  of  knowledge.  Wherever  it  has  been  attempted,  it 
has  succeeded,  and  several  parts  of  the  state  have  experienced  its  benefits. 
Competent  teachers  can  be  educated  for  this  express  purpose,  and  in  sufficient 


APPENDIX. 


157 


number  to  supply  all  our  common  schools,  by  sending  intelligent  young  men 
to  the  Lancasterian  seminaries  in  New-York,  where  they  will  be  instructed 
gratuitously,  and  where  in  the  course  of  a  few  months  they  will  acquire  suf- 
ficient knowledge  of  the  system.  Appropriations  for  this  purpose  by  the 
several  common  schools  out  of  their  portion  of  the  general  fund,  under  the 
direction  of  the  superintendant,  will  defray  the  small  expense  attending  the 
attainment  of  this  important  object. 

In  that  of  1822,  he  again  adverts  to  this  subject : — "  The  Lancasterian 
or  monitorial  system,  or,  as  it  has  been  emphatically  denominated,  the  system 
of  mutual  instruction,  is  making  its  way  in  the  community  by  the  force  of  its 
transcendent  merits.  Our  common  schools  have  flourished  beyond  all  former 
example  :  and  our  higher  institutions,  the  seats  of  literature  and  science, 
continue  to  maintain  the  respectable  character  which  they  have  so  honourably 
acquired.  Having  in  the  course  of  the  last  year  had  an  opportunity  from 
personal  observation  to  witness  the  progress  of  Columbia  College,  I  cannot 
omit,  on  this  occasion,  to  express  the  high  sense  which  I  entertain  of  the  able 
superintendence  of  the  trustees,  of  the  learning  and  attention  of  the  president 
and  professors,  and  of  the  laudable  advances  of  the  students  ;  and  my  intelli- 
gence from  the  other  colleges  is  also  propitious  to  the  progress  of  knowledge, 
and  honourable  to  those  venerable  and  distinguished  men  who  watch  over 
their  interests. 

"  I  am  happy  to  have  it  in  my  power  to  say  that  this  state  has  always 
evinced  a  liberal  spirit  in  the  promotion  of  education,  and  I  am  persuaded 
that  no  considerations  short  of  total  inability  will  ever  prevent  similar  demon- 
strations. The  first  duty  of  a  state  is  to  render  its  citizens  virtuous  by 
intellectual  instruction  and  moral  discipline,  by  enlightening  their  minds, 
purifying  their  hearts,  and  teaching  them  their  rights  and  their  obligations. 
Those  solid  and  enduring  honours  which  arise  from  the  cultivation  of  science 
and  the  acquisition  and  diffusion  of  knowledge,  will  outlive  the  renown  of 
the  statesman,  and  the  glory  of  the  warrior  :  and  if  any  stimulus  were  wanting 
in  a  case  so  worthy  of  all  our  attention  and  patronage,  we  may  find  it  in  the 
example  before  our  eyes,  of  the  author  of  the  declaration  of  independence, 

18 


158 


APPENDIX. 


who  has  devoted  the  evening  of  his  illustrious  life  to  the  establishment  of  an 
university  in  his  native  state." 

In  his  speech  of  1825,  he  thus  again  addresses  the  two  houses,  demon- 
strating, if  any  thing  were  still  wanting,  how  intensely  the  subject  was 
connected  with  his  feelings,  and  how  prominent  a  place  it  held  among  his 
multifarious  occupations. 

"  The  number  of  children  taught  in  our  common  schools  during  the  last 
year  exceeds  400,000,  and  is  probably  more  than  one-fourth  of  our  whole 
population.  Ten  thousand  three  hundred  and  eighty-three  have  been  instructed 
in  the  free  and  charity  schools  in  the  city  of  New-York,  a  number  by  no  means 
proportioned  to  the  wants  of  its  population.  The  students  in  the  incorporated 
academies  amount  to  about  2,683,  and  in  the  colleges  to  755. 

"  The  fund  for  the  common  schools  may  be  stated  at  upwards  of  1,739,000 
dollars,  and  its  annual  income  at  98,000  dollars ;  to  which  may  be  added  the 
interest  on  the  future  sales  of  lands,  and  on  the  disposal  of  escheated 
property  ;  the  proceeds  of  which  latter  item  may  be  added  to  the  capital. 

"  However  imposing  this  fund  may  appear,  it  is  sufficiently  obvious  that  it 
ought  to  be  augmented.  This  state  is  capable  of  supporting  fourteen  millions 
of  inhabitants.  This  appropriation  will  therefore  soon  be  found  far  behind 
the  progress  of  population,  and  the  requisitions  for  instruction.  Deeply 
impressed  with  the  momentous  nature  of  this  department  of  our  social  policy 
to  the  cardinal  interests  of  the  state,  I  cannot  withhold  one  important  fact 
derived  from  past  experience.  Of  the  many  thousands  who  have  been 
instructed  in  our  free  schools  in  the  city  of  New-York,  there  is  not  a  solitary 
instance  known  of  any  one  having  been  convicted  of  crimes.  In  furtherance 
of  this  invaluable  system,  I  recommend  to  your  consideration  the  education 
of  competent  teachers  on  the  monitorial  plan,  its  more  general  introduction, 
and  the  distribution  of  useful  books." 

From  the  last  annual  report  of  the  superintendant  of  common  schools, 
A.  C.  Flagg,  Esq.  made  to  the  legislature  of  the  state  of  New-York,  in 
January  1828,  I  have  selected  the  following  statements.  While  it  exhibits 
the  magnificence  and  efficiency  of  the  system  of  public  school  instruction,  it 


APPENDIX. 


159 


must  constitute  an  enduring  monument  to  the  benevolent  and  generous  zeal 
of  its  principal  founder. 

"  There  are  55  organised  counties  in  the  state,  from  the  clerks  of  each 
of  which  returns  have  been  received.  It  will  be  seen  from  these  abstracts, 
that  of  the  742  towns  and  wards  in  the  state,  741  have  made  reports  accord- 
ing to  law,  and  that  only  one  town  is  delinquent.  This  town  is  Bushwick, 
in  the  county  of  Kings. 

"  That  there  are  in  the  towns  which  have  made  reports,  8,298  school  districts, 
and  consequently  the  like  number  of  schools  organised,  and  that  returns  have 
been  received  from  7,800  of  those  districts. 

"That  179  new  school  districts  have  been  formed  during  the  year  1827, 
and  that  the  number  of  districts  which  have  made  returns,  exceeds  that  of 
the  preceding  year  by  256. 

"That  there  are  in  the  districts  whose  trustees  have  made  returns,  419,216 
children  between  the  ages  of  5  and  15;  and  that  in  the  common  schools  of 
the  same  districts,  441,856  children  have  been  taught  during  the  year  1827; 
the  general  average  of  instruction  having  been  about  eight  months. 

"  The  number  of  children  instructed  in  the  common  schools,  exceeds  by 
17,804,  the  whole  number  between  the  ages  of  5  and  15  years.  This  estimate 
does  not  include  the  cities  of  New- York  and  Albany,  where  the  children 
between  5  and  15  are  not  reported. 

"The  returns  show  an  increase  of  7,960,  of  the  children  between  5  and 
15 ;  and  the  number  of  children  taught  in  the  common  schools,  (New-York 
excepted)  has  increased  10,255  since  the  last  annual  report. 

"  In  1816,  the  number  of  children  returned  as  instructed  in  the  common 
schools,  was  140,106 ;  since  which  time  the  number  taught  has  increased 
301,750. 

"  Two  hundred  and  twenty-two  thousand,  nine  hundred  and  ninety-five 
dollars,  and  seventy-seven  cents,  have  been  paid  to  the  several  school  districts 
during  the  year  1827  :  of  this  sum  $100,000  were  paid  from  the  state  treasury, 
$110,542.32  were  raised  by  a  tax  upon  the  several  towns  in  the  state,  and 
$12,453.45  were  derived  from  a  local  fund  which  certain  towns  possess. 


160 


APPENDIX. 


It  is  required  by  the  school  law,  that  a  sum  shall  be  assessed  upon  the  taxable 
inhabitants,  equalling  that  which  is  apportioned  to  each  town  ;  and  by  a 
vote  at  town  meeting,  double  the  amount  may  be  raised.  Thus  it  will  be 
seen,  that  the  towns  have  raised  by  tax,  $10,542.32  more  than  were  required 
to  entitle  them  to  the  public  monies. 

"  The  amount  distributed  among  the  several  district  schools,  exceeds  that 
of  the  preceding  year  by  $37,275.31. 

"  The  productive  capital  of  the  common  school  fund  has  been  increased 
$256,121.50,  during  the  past  year,  from  the  following  sources,  viz.  : 

1.  '"An  act  to  provide  permanent  funds  for  the  annual  appropriation  to 
common  schools,  to  increase  the  literature  fund,  and  to  promote  the  education 
of  teachers,'  passed  April  13,  1827,  requires  the  transfer  of  the  balance  due 
on  the  loan  of  17S6,  to  the  common  school  fund  ;  and  also  $100,000  of  the 
shares  owned  by  the  state,  in  the  capital  stock  of  any  of  the  banks,  at  the  par 
value  thereof,  to  be  selected  by  the  comptroller,  and  appropriated  to  the  same 
fund.  The  balance  due  on  the  loan  of  1786,  amounts  to  $33,616.19.  The 
addition  thus  made  to  the  capital  of  the  common  school  fund,  amounts  to 
$133,616.19. 

2.  "  By  an  act  of  the  legislature,  passed  March  10,  1827,  authorising  the 
loan  of  the  credit  of  the  state,  and  the  issuing  of  certificates  of  stock  to  the 
Hudson  and  Delaware  Canal  Company,  it  was  provided  that  said  stock 
should  be  sold  at  public  auction,  '  and  the  amount  of  any  premium  received 
on  such  sales,  or  on  any  sales  of  the  said  certificates,  should  be  paid  into  the 
treasury,  to  be  appropriated  to  the  common  school  fund.'  In  pursuance  of 
that  act,  $100,000  of  said  certificates  were  sold  on  the  6th  of  November 
last,  at  a  premium  of  11^  per  cent.,  the  nett  proceeds  of  which  amount  to 
$11,478,25:  and  on  the  11th  of  December  last,  another  $100,000  at  a 
premium  of  11  per  cent.,  the  nett  proceeds  being  $10,978.25.  On  the  31st 
of  December,  $100,000  of  the  same  certificates  were  sold,  at  a  premium  of 
8i  per  cent.,  being  $8,750.  The  sum  total  credited  to  the  capital  of  the  com- 
mon school  fund  from  this  source,  is  $31,156.50.  The  comptroller  is  author- 
ised to  issue  stock  to  the  amount  of  $500,000,  and  should  the  average  sales 


APPENDIX. 


161 


of  the  remaining  $200,000  be  as  favourable  as  the  preceding,  the  school 
fund  will  receive  a  further  augmentation  of  $20,770.60 :  making  a  total 
addition  to  the  fund  from  this  source,  of  $51,020.66. 

3.  "  An  act  passed  by  the  last  legislature,  authorised  the  commissioners 
of  the  land-office  to  make  such  alterations  in  the  plans  of  the  villages  of  East 
and  West  Oswego,  as  would  in  their  opinion  be  for  the  interest  of  the  state, 
and  requiring  that  the  sales  of  lots  in  said  villages  should  be  at  Oswego. 
Under  this  authority  most  of  the  lands  belonging  to  the  state  at  Oswego, 
were  sold  by  the  surveyor-general  on  the  18th  of  July  last.  These  sales 
amounted  to  $91,349.  Prior  to  1824,  the  lands  belonging  to  the  school  fund 
at  Oswego,  were  estimated  at  $15,000  :  and  in  1827,  a  few  weeks  before 
the  sale,  these  lands  were  appraised  at  44,880  dollars.  It  will  be  seen  that  these 
lands  were  sold  for  more  than  double  the  appraised  value  ;  and  that  the 
increase  from  the  estimate  made  previous  to  the  commencement  of  the 
Oswego  canal,  has  been  76,349  dollars  :  and  a  few  lots  still  remain  the  pro- 
perty of  the  state. 

"  The  capital  of  the  common  school  fund  is  stated  in  the  comptroller's 
report  at  $1,611,096.  This  includes  only  the  premium  on  the  first  $100,000 
of  Hudson  and  Delaware  stock.  To  this  may  now  be  added  $19,728.25,  the 
proceeds  of  the  second  and  third  sales,  which  make  the  actual  productive 
capital  of  the  school  fund,  $1,630,825.  The  revenue  of  the  school  fund  for 
the  last  year  has  been  $81,381.90.  It  is  estimated  by  the  comptroller  for  the 
next  year,  at  $95,000. 

"  In  addition  to  this  fund,  the  constitution  provides  that  '  the  proceeds  of 
all  lands  belonging  to  this  state,  which  shall  be  hereafter  sold  or  disposed  of,1 
shall  belong  to  the  fund  for  the  support  of  common  schools.  The  lands 
embraced  in  this  provision  are  computed  at  880,000  acres,  and  valued  at 
$411,288  :  this  sum  added  to  the  productive  capital,  will  give  a  total  of 
$2,042,113.05. 

"In  several  of  the  counties,  there  is  a  local  fund  for  the  use  of  schools. 
This  fund  is  derived  from  reservations  made  by  the  state  for  the  use  of  schools 
in  granting  certain  tracts  of  land.    Seventy-eight  towns  in  this  state  are 


162 


APPENDIX. 


reported  as  having  participated  in  this  local  fund,  the  total  amount  of  which 
is  $12,453.45. 

On  the  education  of  suitable  teachers  the  report  says, — "  To  elevate  the 
standard  of  education  in  the  common  schools,  it  is  indispensable  that  the 
qualifications  of  teachers  should  be  improved.  The  inhabitants  of  the  school 
districts  ought  to  be  impressed  with  the  great  importance  of  affording  such 
compensation,  as  will  induce  men  of  good  talents  to  fit  themselves  for  the 
situation  of  teachers,  as  a  profession  for  life.  The  character  and  usefulness 
of  the  schools,  are  immediately  dependent  upon  the  qualifications  of  the 
instructors. 

"  Connected  with  the  subject  of  training  up  competent  teachers  for  the 
common  schools,  it  may  not  be  inappropriate  to  notice  the  provisions  of  an 
act  passed  at  the  last  session  of  the  legislature,  '  to  increase  the  literature 
fund,  and  to  promote  the  education  of  teachers.1  This  act  appropriates 
150,000  dollars,  to  be  added  to  the  literature  fund  ;  and  requires  the  distri- 
bution of  the  income  of  that  fund  among  the  incorporated  academies  and 
seminaries,  '  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  pupils  instructed  in  each,  for  six 
months  during  the  preceding  year,  who  shall  have  pursued  classical  studies, 
or  the  higher  branches  of  English  education.1  Heretofore,  the  apportionment 
has  been  confined  to  the  number  of  students  pursuing  classical  studies.  The 
increase  of  the  literature  fund,  and  the  extension  of  its  benefits  to  all  such 
pupils  as  are  pursuing  the  higher  branches  of  an  English  education,  will  tend 
to  multiply  the  number  of  those  who  will  be  qualified  to  instruct  in  the 
common  schools,  and  to  encourage  the  academies  in  becoming  nurseries  of 
teachers.1' 

In  noticing  the  services  of  Mr.  Clinton  in  behalf  of  common  schools,  one 
who  could  well  appreciate  them  thus  writes : — "  As  the  patron  and  zealous 
supporter  of  the  system  of  instruction  and  education  in  the  common  schools, 
he  will  be  entitled  to  the  sincerest  respect  and  gratitude  of  the  present  and 
future  generations.  To  this  favourite  object  he  devoted  every  faculty  of 
his  mind  and  body,  exerting  himself  to  the  utmost  of  his  powers,  and  stimula- 
ting others  by  every  motive  and  argument  that  his  ingenuity  could  urge  or 


APPENDIX. 


163 


suggest.  In  almost  all  his  messages  to  the  legislature,  this  important  subject 
held  a  prominent  place  :  and  there  are  abundant  reasons  for  believing,  that  it 
is  in  a  great  measure  owing  to  his  constant  exertions,  and  his  unwearied  per- 
severance, that  the  school  fund,  and  the  common  schools,  are  at  the  present 
time  in  so  flourishing  a  condition." 

While  the  foregoing  pages  were  in  press,  I  have  been  favoured  with  a 
communication  from  the  Hon.  A.  C.  Flagg,  the  Secretary  of  State,  bearing 
date  February  4th,  1829,  in  reference  to  the  school  fund  during  the  year  1828  ; 
he  has  obligingly  furnished  me  with  the  following  memorandum,  embracing 
the  results  contained  in  his  last  report  as  recently  presented  to  the  legislature. 

"  The  foundation  of  the  school  fund  was  laid  in  1805,  on  the  recommen- 
dation of  Morgan  Lewis,  whose  message  is  to  be  found  in  the  assembly 
journals  of  that  year.  In  1811,  Governor  Tompkins  appointed  five  commis- 
sioners, viz.  Jedediah  Peck,  John  Murray,  jun.  Samuel  Russell,  Roger  Skinner, 
and  Robert  Macomb,  to  devise  a  system  for  the  common  schools.  This 
commission  reported  in  1812,  as  you  will  see  by  reference  to  the  journals  of 
the  assembly  in  that  year. 

"  The  results  contained  in  the  annual  report  for  the  past  year,  are  as 
follows:  8609  school  districts  in  the  state;  8164  districts  have  made  returns 
this  year ;  $232,343.21  have  been  paid  to  the  common  schools ;  468,205 
scholars  have  been  taught  in  the  common  schools  during  the  year,  the  general 
amount  of  instruction  having  been  about  eight  months;  there  are  449,113 
children  between  5  and  15,  in  the  school  districts  which  have  made  returns.'1 

It  is  due  to  Governor  Lewis  to  notice  his  early  suggestion  of  the  establish- 
ment of  common  schools ;  his  interesting  remarks  referred  to  by  secretary 
Flagg,  as  contained  in  Goveror  Lewis's  speech  of  1805,  are  as  follows : — "  I 
cannot  conclude,  gentlemen,  without  calling  your  attention  to  a  subject  which 
my  worthy  and  highly  respected  predecessor*  in  office,  had  much  at  heart, 
and  frequently  I  believe  presented  to  your  view,  the  encouragement  of  litera- 
ture.    In  a  government  resting  on  public  opinion,  and  deriving  its  chief 


*  His  Excellency  George  Clinton. 


164 


APPENDIX. 


support  from  the  affections  of  a  people,  religion  and  morality  cannot  be  too 
sedulously  inculcated.  To  them  science  is  an  handmaid  ;  ignorance  the 
worst  of  enemies.  Literary  information  should  then  be  placed  within  the 
reach  of  every  description  of  citizens,  and  poverty  should  not  be  permitted  to 
obstruct  the  path  to  the  fane  of  knowledge.  Common  schools  under  the 
guidance  of  respectable  teachers  should  be  established  in  every  village,  and 
the  indigent  educated  at  the  public  expense.  The  higher  seminaries  also 
should  receive  every  patronage  and  support  within  the  means  of  enlightened 
legislators.  Learning  would  thus  flourish,  and  vice  be  more  effectually 
restrained  than  by  volumes  of  penal  statutes."* 


Note  F.— p.  49. 

Provision  had  long  been  made  in  New- York  by  various  associations,  of 
different  religious  denominations,  for  the  education  of  the  poor  and  indigent 
children  belonging  to  their  respective  denominations;  but  it  was  not  until 
1805  that  a  special  body  was  organized  in  the  city  of  New-York,  who  made 
application  to  the  legislature  of  this  state  for  an  act  to  incorporate  them  as  a 
"  free  school  for  the  education  of  poor  children,  who  do  not  belong  to,  or  are 
not  provided  for  by  any  religious  society."  Thirteen  trustees  were  elected 
under  this  act,  on  the  first  Monday  of  the  ensuing  May,  with  powers  to  conduct 
the  affairs  of  the  corporation.  On  convening  together,  they  found  that  they 
had  undertaken  a  great  task,  and  encountered  an  important  responsibility  ; 
without  funds,  without  teachers,  without  a  house  in  which  to  instruct,  and 
without  a  system  of  instruction ;  and  that  their  great  reliance  was  on  their 
own  industry,  on  the  liberality  of  the  public,  and  on  the  bounty  of  the 
constituted  authorities.  From  this  humble  beginning  maybe  dated  the  origin 
of  the  free  school  system,  for  the  relief  of  a  most  extensive  class  of  human 


*  See  Governors'  Speeches,  p.  8. 


APPENDIX. 


165 


beings.  In  this  society  Mr.  Clinton  was  chosen  president,  and  delivered 
an  address  to  the  benefactors  and  friends  of  this  association,  upon  the  opening 
of  the  institution  in  New-York,  in  December,  1809.  One  or  two  extracts  from 
this  address  must  here  suffice.  It  need  scarcely  be  stated  that  the  plan  of 
instruction  suggested  by  Joseph  Lancaster  was  adopted. 

"  The  trustees  of  this  institution,  after  due  deliberation,  did  not  hesitate  to 
adopt  the  system  of  Lancaster,  and  in  carrying  it  into  effect,  they  derived 
essential  aid  from  one  of  their  body,  who  had  seen  it  practised  in  England, 
and  who  had  also  personal  communication  with  its  author.  A  teacher  was 
also  selected  who  has  fully  answered  every  reasonable  expectation.  He  has 
generally  followed  the  prescribed  plan.  Wherever  he  has  deviated,  he  has 
improved.  A  more  numerous,  a  better  governed  school,  affording  equal 
facilities  to  improvement,  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  United  States. 

"  Provided  thus  with  an  excellent  system  and  an  able  teacher,  the  school 
was  opened  on  the  sixth  of  May,  1800,  in  a  small  apartment  in  Bancker-street. 
This  was  the  first  scion  of  the  Lancaster  stock  engrafted  in  the  United  States  ; 
and  from  this  humble  beginning,  in  the  course  of  little  more  than  three  years, 
you  will  observe  the  rapidity  with  which  we  have  ascended. 

"  When  I  perceive  that  many  boys  in  our  school  have  been  taught  to 
read  and  write  in  two  months,  who  did  not  before  know  the  alphabet,  and  that 
even  one  has  accomplished  it  in  three  weeks — when  I  view  all  the  bearings 
and  tendencies  of  this  system — when  I  contemplate  the  habits  of  order  which 
it  forms — the  spirit  of  emulation  which  it  excites — the  rapid  improvement 
which  it  produces — the  purity  of  morals  which  it  inculcates — when  1  behold 
the  extraordinary  union  of  celerity  in  instruction,  and  economy  of  expense — 
and  when  I  perceive  one  great  assembly  of  a  thousand  children,  under  the 
eye  of  a  single  teacher,  marching  with  unexampled  rapidity,  and  with  perfect 
discipline,  to  the  goal  of  knowledge;  I  confess  that  I  recognise  in  Lancaster 
the  benefactor  of  the  human  race — I  consider  his  system  as  creating  a  new 
era  in  education,  as  a  blessing  sent  down  from  heaven  to  redeem  the  poor 
and  distressed  of  this  world  from  the  power  and  dominion  of  ignorance. 

"  Although  the  merits  of  this  apostle  of  benevolence  have  been  generally 
acknowledged  in  his  own  country,  and  he  has  received  the  countenance  and 

19 


166 


APPENDIX. 


protection  of  the  first  men  in  Great  Rritain,  yet  calumny  has  lifted  up  her 
voice  against  him,  and  attempts  have  been  made  to  rob  him  of  his  laurels. 
Danger  to  the  established  church  and  to  government  has  been  apprehended 
from  his  endeavours  to  pour  light  upon  mankind.  This  insinuation  has  been 
abundantly  repelled  by  the  tenor  of  his  life — his  carefully  steering  clear  in  his 
instructions  of  any  peculiar  creed,  and  his  confining  himself  to  the  general 
truths  of  Christianity  '  I  have,'  says  Lancaster,  '  been  eight  years  engaged  in 
the  benevolent  work  of  superintending  the  education  of  the  poor — I  have  had 
three  thousand  children,  who  owe  their  education  to  me,  some  of  whom  have 
left  school,  are  apprenticed  or  in  place,  and  are  going  on  well.  I  have  had 
great  influence  with  both  parents  and  children,  among  whom  there  is,  never- 
theless, no  one  instance  of  a  convert  to  my  religious  profession.1  That 
knowledge  is  the  parent  of  sedition  and  insurrection,  and  that  in  proportion  as 
the  public  mind  is  illuminated,  the  principles  of  anarchy  are  desiminated,  is  a 
proposition  that  can  never  admit  of  debate,  at  least  in  this  country. 

"  But  Lancaster  has  also  been  accused  of  arrogating  to  himself  surrepti- 
tious honours,  and  attempts  have  been  made  to  transfer  the  entire  merit  of 
his  great  discovery  to  Dr.  Bell.  Whatever  he  borrowed  from  that  gentleman 
he  has  candidly  acknowledged.  The  use  of  sand,  in  teaching,  undoubtedly 
came  to  him  through  that  channel,  but  it  has  been  practised  for  ages  by  the 
Brahmins.  He  may  also  be  indebted  to  Bell  for  some  other  improvements,  but 
the  vital  leading  principles  of  his  system,  are  emphatically  an  original  discovery. 

"  The  origin  and  progress  of  beneficial  discoveries  cannot  be  too  minutely 
specified;  and  when  their  diffusion  can  only  be  exceeded  by  their  excel- 
lence, we  have  peculiar  reason  to  congratulate  the  friends  of  humanity. 
This  prompt  and  general  encouragement  is  honourable  to  our  national 
character,  and  shows  conclusively,  that  the  habits,  manners,  and  opinions  of 
the  American  people,  are  favourable  to  the  reception  of  truth  and  the  propa- 
gation of  knowledge.  And  no  earthly  consideration  could  induce  the 
benevolent  man,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  what  we  see  this  day,  to 
exchange  his  feelings,  if  from  the  obscure  mansions  of  indigence,  in  which, 
in  all  human  probability  he  now  is,  instilling  comfort  into  the  hearts,  and 
infusing  knowledge  into  the  minds  of  the  poor,  he  could  hear  the  voice  of  a 


APPENDIX. 


167 


grc.it  and  enlightened  people  pronouncing  his  eulogium,  and  see  this  parent 
seminary,  and  the  establishments  which  have  sprung  from  its  bosom,  diffusing 
light,  imparting  joy,  and  dispensing  virtue.  His  tree  of  knowledge  is  indeed 
transplanted  to  a  more  fertile  soil,  and  a  more  congenial  clime.  It  has  flourished 
with  uncommon  vigour  and  beauty — its  luxuriant  and  wide-spreading  branches 
afford  shelter  to  all  who  require  it — its  ambrosial  fragrance  fills  the  land,  and 
its  head  reaches  the  heavens  !" 

It  was  expressly  set  forth,  in  a  subsequent  address  of  this  society,  that 
they  did  not  intend  to  interfere  with  any  existing  institution  ;  but  like  gleaners 
in  the  wide  field  of  benevolence,  they  sought  such  objects  only  as  were  left 
by  those  who  had  gone  before,  or  were  fellow-labourers  with  them,  in  the 
great  work  of  charity.  They  considered  early  instruction,  and  fixed  habits 
of  industry,  decency,  and  order,  to  be  the  surest  safeguards  of  virtuous  con- 
duct. Nevertheless,  some  uneasiness  existed  in  the  minds  of  certain  of  the 
truly  devotional  as  to  how  far  religious  instruction  was  cherished  or  overlooked. 
In  the  Historical  Account  of  the  society,  published  in  1814,  this  subject  is 
thus  adverted  to  : 

"  Every  person,  who  was  acquainted  with  these  schools,  was  ready  to 
express  his  satisfaction  with  the  literary  improvement  of  the  children  ;  but 
there  were  some,  who  thought  that  sufficient  care  had  not  been  bestowed  in 
the  communication  of  instruction  specifically  religious.  A  concern  of  such 
high  importance  had  not,  however,  been  overlooked  by  the  trustees  ;  and  they 
had  pursued  such  measures  in  regard  to  it,  as  they  considered  to  be  most 
expedient.  The  board  was  composed  of  persons  of  almost  every  religious 
denomination  ;  men  who  were  attached  to  their  respective  creeds,  and  who 
would  not  fail,  on  suitable  occasions,  to  recommend  an  acquaintance  with 
them.  But,  in  these  schools,  they  had  studiously  avoided  the  inculcation  of 
the  peculiar  tenets  of  any  religious  society.  From  the  commencement  of  the 
institution,  they  had  directed  that  the  holy  scriptures  should  be  read  daily  in 
the  schools  ;  and  it  was  thought  that  the  tender  minds  of  the  children  could 
not  fail  to  be  impressed  with  the  sublime  precepts  and  the  beautiful  morality 
of  these  excellent  volumes.  To  satisfy  the  wishes  of  every  well-meaning 
person,  it  was  however  determined,  that  the  schools  should  be  suspended  on 


168 


APPENDIX. 


the  afternoon  of  every  third  day  of  the  week  (Tuesday),  and  that  this  time 
should  be  exclusively  devoted  to  the  religious  instruction  of  the  children. 
An  association  of  more  than  fifty  ladies,  of  distinguished  consideration  in 
society,  and  belonging  to  the  different  religious  denominations  in  the  city, 
volunteered  their  services  in  the  work,  and  they  accordingly  meet  at  the 
schools  to  examine  the  children  in  their  respective  catechisms  on  the  day 
appointed  for  that  purpose.  The  parents  and  guardians  designated  the 
denomination  in  whose  tenets  they  wished  their  children  to  be  educated ;  and 
it  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  state  the  number  belonging  to  each,  at  the  time 
when  this  measure  was  adopted.  They  were  found  to  belong  to  the  various 
religious  societies  as  follows,  and  the  numbers  are  not  materially  different  at 
the  present  period. 


Presbyterians,    -----  279 

Episcopalians,     -----  205 

Baptists,            -----  142 

Methodists,       -----  130 

Dutch  Church,              ...          1  33 

Roman  Catholics,         -                    -          -  20 

Associate  Reformed,  16 


Total,  825 

"  It  was  also  determined,  in  relation  to  this  subject,  that  the  children 
should  assemble  at  their  respective  schools  on  the  morning  of  every  Sunday, 
or  first  day  of  the  week,  and  proceed  under  the  care  of  a  monitor,  to  the 
place  of  public  worship  to  which  they  respectively  belonged. 

"  The  two  schools  will  contain  about  eight  hundred  scholars.  That 
number  is  generally  complete ;  and  they  are  educated  at  an  annual  expense 
of  about  three  dollars  each.  About  four  hundred  children  are  admitted,  and 
the  same  number  discharged,  every  year. 

"Nine  years  have  now  elapsed  since  the  society  commenced  its  labours, 
extending  the  blessings  of  education  to  the  children  of  the  indigent  in  this 


APPENDIX. 


161) 


metropolis.  Every  succeeding  year  has  afforded  them  the  gratification  of 
announcing  to  the  public  the  uniform  advancement  of  the  interests  of  the 
institution,  and  of  its  great  and  rapidly  increasing  utility ;  and  the  trustees 
have  also  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  benefits  of  the  same  system 
extended,  either  in  whole  or  in  part,  to  several  other  schools  in  this  city." 

As  connected  with  the  important  subject  of  education,  the  following 
extracts  from  the  Public  School  Society,  embracing  six  hundred  of  the  most 
influential  and  respectable  of  our  citizens,  will  be  read  with  the  liveliest 
interest.  The  contrast  which  it  exhibits  of  the  condition  of  instruction  in  the 
city  of  New-York  as  compared  with  the  state  at  large,  is  lamentable  indeed. 
When  we  consider  the  vast  efforts  that  have  been  made  to  improve  the  moral 
and  intellectual  culture  of  the  rising  generation,  the  causes  of  this  condition 
if  unravelled  will  explain  much  of  the  difficulty.  Let  us  consider  the  hetero- 
geneous complexion  of  our  people;  and  let  it  be  added  that  New-York 
probably  receives  as  many  emigrants  as  all  the  rest  of  the  United  States,  and 
of  these  there  is  always  an  over  proportion  of  uneducated  persons.  The 
address  which  the  trustees  have  recently  published  to  their  fellow-citizens 
respecting  the  extension  of  the  public  schools  is  at  once  an  able  and  convincing 
document. 

"  It  is  an  object  of  primary  importance  to  ascertain,  as  nearly  as  may  be, 
the  number  of  our  children  within  the  proper  ages  for  instruction,  who  are 
entirely  destitute  of  it.  It  is  impossible  with  the  data  we  possess,  to  arrive 
at  a  precisely  accurate  result ;  but  it  will  be  perceived  by  the  following 
statement,  that  if  we  have  fallen  into  an  error,  it  is  not  that  of  exaggeration. 

"  Provision  is  made  by  law  for  ascertaining  in  all  other  parts  of  the  state, 
the  number  of  children  between  the  ages  of  5  and  15,  and  also  the  whole 
number  annually  instructed  ;  and  it  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  it  does  not 
extend  to  this  city.  It  appears  by  the  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  State  for 
1827,  that  in  other  parts  of  the  state,  the  ratio  of  scholars  in  the  public  and 
other  schools  to  the  whole  population,  was  1  to  5 — 1  to  1 — and  1  to  3  ;  and 
that  these  are  about  the  average  ratios  which  prevail  throughout  the  state, 
with  the  exception  of  this'  city.  In  this  city  this  ratio  is  less  than  1  to  7,  sup- 
posing the  population  to  have  advanced  with  the  same  rapidity  since  1825,  as 
in  the  preceding  five  years. 


170  APPENDIX. 

"  If  we  adopt  for  our  city  the  proportion  furnished  by  the  above  report, 
and  founded  upon  actual  official  returns,  between  the  whole  population,  and 
the  children  within  the  ages  above-mentioned,  the  result  will  be  that  we  had 
45,300  of  these  children  in  1825,  when  our  population  was  but  166,000.  If 
the  increase  of  our  population  since  1825  has  been  in  the  same  ratio  as  from 
1820  to  1825,  we  must  add  to  this  number  of  children  more  than  7000, 
making  the  whole  number  52,300.  About  10,000  children  are  taught  at  our 
public  and  charity  schools.  It  was  ascertained  by  a  committee  of  teachers, 
about  four  or  five  years  since,  that  we  had  200  male  schools.  It  is  a  liberal 
allowance  to  suppose  the  female  schools  equally  numerous.  If  we  add  to 
these  numbers  100  schools,  and  allow  35  scholars  to  each  school,  which  we 
are  persuaded  is  an  over  estimate,  we  have  17,500  for  the  private  schools. 

"  We  have  no  means  of  ascertaining,  the  number  of  Sunday  scholars  who 
go  to  no  other  schools.  But  it  is  evident  that  this  number  cannot  be  large, 
because  the  whole  number  of  scholars  in  the  Sunday  schools  does  not  exceed 
that  in  the  public  schools  by  more  than  2000,  and  because  we  know  that  a 
large  portion  of  Sunday  scholars  attend  private  schools. 

"  From  the  best  inquiries  we  have  been  able  to  make,  the  number  of  those 
scholars  who  attend  no  other  schools  does  not  exceed  one  in  twenty,  or  600 
in  the  whole. 

"  The  result  of  these  estimates  is,  that  we  have  twenty-four  thousand  two 
hundred  children,  within  the  ages  of  5  and  15,  who  attend  no  school  whatever. 

"  A  large  number  of  children,  principally  boys,  are  taken  from  school  as 
soon  as  they  arrive  at  14,  and  some  even  at  12  years  of  age,  to  be  bound  out 
to  service,  and  others  are  withdrawn  even  at  ten  years  of  age  for  other 
purposes.  If  we  allow  one  half  of  the  whole  number  above  mentioned  to 
have  been  withdrawn  from  school  before  the  age  of  15,  though  perhaps  one 
third  would  be  nearer  the  truth,  the  result  will  be  as  follows  : 
"  Whole  number  of  children  between  5  and  15  years  of  age,  52,300 

Ditto,  attending  public  schools,  10,000 

Ditto       ..        private    do.   17,500 

Ditto       ..       Sunday    do.  not  before  included,    -       -  600 

Ditto,  withdrawn  before  the  age  of  15,    ...      -       12,100  40,200 

Leaving  12,100 


APPENDIX. 


171 


"  Twelve  thousand  children,  between  five  and  fifteen  years  of  age,  entirely 
destitute  of  the  means  of  instruction. 

"  This  computation  leaves  out  all  those  children  of  tenderer  years,  who 
ought  to  be  introduced  into  infant  schools.  The  density,  magnitude,  and 
character  of  our  population,  give  to  this  subject  a  deeper  interest  here,  than  it 
can  have  elsewhere.  The  single  fact  that  20,000  emigrants  arrived  within 
our  city  the  past  year,  presents  the  subject  in  a  sufficiently  striking  point 
of  view. 

"  It  is  time  to  pass  from  this  general  view  to  a  more  particular  considera- 
tion of  the  necessity  and  nature  of  the  reform  which  is  called  for.  We 
conceive  that  our  present  establishments  are  altogether  inadequate  to  the 
wants  of  the  community. 

"  The  money  expended  upon  public  schools  in  Boston,  in  the  year  1826, 
amounted  to  upwards  of  $54,000,  exclusive  of  all  expenses  of  building.  From 
the  best  information  we  can  obtain,  the  expenditures  of  that  city,  for  (he  same 
object,  during  the  past  year,  amounted  to  $70,000. 

"The  whole  revenue  of  the  Public  School  Society  of  New-York,  exclusive 
of  about  $4,400  received  from  pay  scholars,  for  the  year  ending  on  the  first  of 
May  last,  was  less  than  $20,000.  This  sum  includes  all  the  public  moneys 
expended  upon  common  schools,  except  $2,155.50  distributed  to  the  Me- 
chanics1, the  Orphan  Asylum,  and  the  Manumission  Societies.  It  would  be 
a  waste  of  time  to  attempt  to  strengthen  this  statement  by  any  comments  we 
could  make.  We  shall  hereafter  point  out  those  particulars  in  which  we 
conceive  that  our  plan  of  public  education  needs  to  be  enlarged. 

"  We  have  already  stated,  that  our  present  system  does  not  harmonize  with 
the  spirit  of  our  public  institutions.  It  is  well  known  that  the  schools  of  the 
society  were  formerly  exclusively  '  free  schools.1  It  was  thought  that  a 
reluctance  naturally  arising  from  a  general  spirit  of  independence,  to  receive 
even  instruction  as  a  charity,  would  exclude  many  from  the  benefits  of 
education. 

"  The  removal  of  this  impediment,  by  receiving  compensation  from  such  as 
choose  to  make  it,  has  doubtless  been  attended  with  very  beneficial  conse- 
quences.   Public  instruction  has  been,  to  a  considerable  extent,  freed  from  its 


172 


APPENDIX. 


degrading  associations  with  poverty  and  charity.  Still  these  consequences 
have  not  been  so  extensive  as  was  hoped.  About  two-thirds  only  of  the  whole 
number  admitted  into  our  schools  are  pay  scholars.  It  is  not  certain  what 
portion  of  these  would  have  been  excluded  if  the  old  system  had  continued. 

"The  more  the  community  is  enlightened,  the  more  equally  will  its  burdens 
be  borne.  It  has  not,  perhaps,  been  sufficiently  considered  by  political 
economists,  that  national  wealth  chiefly  proceeds  from  the  activity  of  mind ; 
and  must  therefore  be  proportioned  to  the  extent  and  universality  of  its  de- 
velopement.  There  is  a  striking  illustration  of  this  truth,  in  a  lecture  not  long 
since  delivered  by  Baron  Dupin  before  one  of  the  Institutes  of  Paris.  It 
appears  by  his  statement  that  in  some  parts  of  Fiance,  those  who  are  educa- 
ted are  1— 10th,  in  others  l-20th,  in  others  only  l-229th  part  of  the  whole 
population  ;  and  that  the  national  revenue  of  these  districts  is  nearly  in 
corresponding  ratios.  Nay  more,  that  these  proportions  are  not  materially 
varied  by  the  most  striking  superiority  or  inferiority  of  soil  and  climate. 

"It  may  be  said  that  we  have  mistaken  the  effect  for  the  cause.  Wealth 
and  education  undoubtedly  act  and  re-act  upon  each  other.  But  it  is  certain 
that  there  would  be  little  or  no  capital  without  education,  and  that  capital 
derives  its  power  of  accumulation  from  education ;  which  points  out  its  uses, 
and  creates  a  demand  for  it. 

"  If  it  were  necessary  to  add  any  thing  to  these  considerations,  the  trustees 
might  claim  the  support  of  all  the  middling  and  even  wealthier  classes  of 
society,  on  the  ground  of  private  interest.  The  amount  of  their  taxes  would 
be  repaid  to  them  fourfold,  by  the  greater  cheapness  of  education,  even  sup- 
posing they  were  to  avail  themselves  only  of  the  higher  schools  ;  and  it  will 
doubtless  be  an  object  of  consideration  to  some  individuals  of  these  classes, 
that  the  cheaper  education  is,  the  more  they  can  afford  to  purchase. 

"  It  would  be  impossible,  without  going  too  much  into  detail,  to  show  how 
great  a  saving  in  the  expenses  of  educating  our  children  would  result  from 
large  establishments,  under  a  proper  superintendence.  Suffice  it  to  say, 
that,  as  far  as  experiments  have  been  made,  the  results  have  been  greater 
and  more  satisfactory  than  could  have  been  expected. 

"  Is  it  necessary  that  the  trustees  should  offer  any  further  apology  for 


APPENDIX. 


173 


proposing  that  a  small  portion  of  the  public  wealth  should  be  devoted  to  the 
great  objects  of  education  ?  We  perceive  no  evidence  of  a  parsimonious 
spirit  in  our  public  councils  in  regard  to  the  ordinary  objects  of  public 
revenue.  There  is  no  lack  of  taxation  for  lighting  and  guarding  our  streets — 
for  our  alms  house  and  penitentiaries.  These  expenditures  for  these  objects,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  enormous  capital  invested  in  these  establishments,  amounted 
in  the  year  1826  to  upwards  of  $196,000.  The  expenditures  for  the  same 
objects  during  the  past  year,  amounted  to  $221,000.  We  might  refer  to 
inferior  objects  for  proofs  of  equal  public  liberality.  In  short,  whenever 
revenue  is  wanted  for  any  purpose  deemed  important  to  the  comfort  or  cha- 
racter of  the  city,  it  is  a  matter  of  course  to  raise  it  by  tax.  We  humbly 
suggest  that  a  similar  liberality  ought  to  be  shown  towards  an  object  inferior 
to  no  other." 

The  salutary  influence  of  this  society  is  now  universally  felt  and  admitted  ; 
and  for  these  benefits  our  community  admits  its  obligations  mainly  to  De  Witt 
Clinton,  Lindley  Murray,  jun.  John  Murray,  jun.  Thomas  Eddy,  and  William 
Johnson. 


Note  G.— p.  49. 

Before  concluding  these  respective  notices  of  institutions  for  the  cultivation 
of  elementary  knowledge,  it  becomes  necessary  to  give  some  account  of  a  new 
organization  for  a  similar  object,  in  which  Governor  Clinton  took  a  lively 
interest.    This  was  the  Infant  School  Society  of  New-York. 

This  society,  the  first  of  the  kind  established  in  the  United  States,  was 
founded  in  the  year  1827,  upon  the  plan  of  similar  institutions  in  Great 
Britain.  "  On  Wednesday,  23d  May,  1827,"  says  the  first  published  and 
authentic  detail  of  its  history,"  a  number  of  ladies  of  different  denominations, 
met  in  the  lecture  room  of  the  Brick  Church,  to  take  into  consideration  the 
necessity  of  forming  a  society,  whose  object  should  be,  the  education  of  the 
infant  poor  of  this  city. 

20 


174 


APPENDIX. 


"  Mrs.  Bethune  was  called  to  the  chair,  and  Mrs.  Holt  was  appointed  secre- 
tary ;  when  the  following  resolutions  were  passed  unanimously. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  form  ourselves  into  a  society  for  the  establishment  of 
schools  for  the  children  of  the  labouring  poor,  who  have  not  attained  the  age 
at  which  they  can  be  received  into  other  schools,  viz.  children  of  both  sexes, 
from  eighteen  months  to  two  years. 

"  Resolved,  That  persons  subscribing  annually  a  sum  not  less  than  one 
dollar,  be  considered  members  of  the  society. 

"  Mrs.  Divie  Bethune,  to  whom  the  society  is  mainly  indebted  for  its  origin, 
was  subsequently  chosen  First  Directress. 

"  The  society  held  their  fourth  meeting  in  the  lecture  room  of  the  church  in 
Canal-street,  at  which  meeting  a  letter  from  Governor  Clinton  was  read, 
approving  of  the  society,  and  consenting  to  become  its  patron  ;  a  constitution 
adopted ;  additional  officers  and  managers  chosen  ;  and  arrangements  made 
for  carrying  into  effect  the  resolves  of  the  society. 

"  It  is  evident,"  say  the  founders  of  the  society  in  the  preamble  to  their 
constitution,  "  that  the  deterioration  of  even  the  lower  feelings  of  the  child 
proceeds,  in  a  great  degree,  from  the  neglect  of  indigent  or  uneducated 
parents ;  who,  partly  from  poverty,  their  large  families,  or  the  necessity  which 
many  of  them  are  under  of  going  out  to  daily  labour,  are  incapable  of  giving 
that  personal  and  moral  culture  to  their  children,  which  the  duties  of  a  parent 
require  them  to  perform." 

The  following  is  the  tenor  of  one  of  the  principal  articles  of  the  constitution  : 
"  Art.  V.  Committees  from  the  board  shall  be  appointed  to  different  districts 
of  the  city,  where  infant  schools  are  necessary  ;  they  shall  visit  the  inhabitants, 
solicit  funds,  procure  suitable  buildings  and  teachers,  encourage  the  labour- 
ing classes  to  keep  their  children  clean,  and  send  them  to  the  infant  school 
established  in  their  neighbourhood,  and  render  a  report  to  the  board  at  every 
stated  meeting." 

Extracts  from  the  report  of  the  proceedings  of  the  board  of  direction,  from 
the  commencement  of  the  society. — "  As  soon  as  sufficient  funds  were  collected 
to  warrant  the  commencement  of  operations,  a  school  was  opened  July  16, 
in  the  basement  story  of  the  Canal-street  church,  which  is  known  as  Infant 


APPENDIX. 


175 


School,  No.  1.  The  names  of  170  children  are  registered  ;  the  average 
attendance  from  GO  to  100  ;  two  teachers  are  employed,  and  an  assistant 
whose  business  it  is  to  attend  to  the  smaller  children,  make  the  fires,  sweep 
the  school  rooms,  &c. 

"  During  the  summer  and  fall  months,  many  parents  availed  themselves  of 
the  privilege  of  sending  their  younger  children  ;  but  owing  to  the  state  of  the 
weather,  few  under  three  years  have  attended  during  the  winter.  Of  those 
children  from  three  to  six  years,  who  have  been  pretty  regular  in  their  atten- 
dance during  five  or  six  months,  nearly  all  can  read  or  spell  the  lessons  on 
the  boards,  and  many  the  scripture  lessons,  repeat  the  tables  in  arithmetic, 
add,  subtract,  and  multiply  on  the  numeration  frame,  and  on  the  lesson  boards  ; 
are  well  acquainted  with  the  scripture  history,  the  ten  commandments,  and 
many  hymns  and  moral  songs  ;  they  have  some  knowledge  of  the  natural 
history  of  animals,  illustrated  by  pictures  ;  analyse  various  moral  lessons,  and 
begin  to  have  some  knowledge  of  grammar  ;  all  which  instruction  is  illustrated 
by  sensible  objects  and  actions. 

"  The  above  is  not  the  only  good  resulting  from  infant  education.  Young 
as  these  children  are,  many  were  addicted  to  the  vices  of  stealing,  lying, 
and  swearing,  and  would  bite  and  hurt  one  another.  As  no  corporeal  punish- 
ment is  permitted  in  the  school,  it  was  found  necessary  to  make  an  example 
of  the  children  guilty  of  these  flagrant  crimes.  A  small  apartment  with  a 
barred  window,  and  styled  the  Bridewell,  has  been  found  to  answer  the 
purpose.  During  the  first  two  months  of  the  school,  few  days  passed  that 
some  were  not  placed  there  for  a  few  minutes  ;  but  for  some  time,  the  sight 
of  it  is  found  to  be  sufficient. 

"  It  is  with  peculiar  satisfaction  they  report  the  approbation  of  the  committee 
of  the  Public  School  Society,  who  have  visited  their  school,  and  made  such 
honourable  mention  of  their  mode  of  instruction  to  their  society,  that  a  school 
on  the  same  plan  will  shortly  be  opened  in  Public  School,  No.  10,  and  placed 
under  the  motherly  care  of  a  committee  from  this  society.  They  have  also 
the  pleasure  to  state,  that  letters  requesting  information  on  the  subject  of 
infant  education,  have  been  received  from  various  parts,  and  infant  schools 
are  now  either  contemplated  or  in  actual  operation,  in  Philadelphia,  Troy, 


176 


APPENDIX. 


Albany,  Boston,  Norfolk,  Va.,  Niagara,  U.  C.  and  in  several  parts  of  Connec- 
ticut. Many  strangers  visit  the  school  to  gain  information,  with  a  view  to 
establish  them  when  they  return  to  their  respective  homes.'1 

While  the  managers  congratulate  the  society  and  the  public  on  the  success 
that  has  attended  this  first  attempt  to  introduce  Infant  Schools  into  this  city 
and  state,  the  painful  recollection  presses  on  the  mind,  that  with  these  con- 
gratulations are  mingled  the  deepest  sympathy  and  regret  for  the  early 
bereavement  of  their  patron — of  him  in  whom  the  nation  gloried,  and  whom 
the  nation  now  mourns. 

By  the  suggestion  of  De  Witt  Clinton  this  society  was  formed.  Under  his 
patronage  it  has  prospered;  and  of  the  share  it  had  of  his  latest  attention,  he 
"  being  dead  yet  speaketh."  "  The  institution  of  infant  schools  is  the  pedestal 
to  the  pyramid.  It  embraces  those  children  who  are  generally  too  young  for 
common  schools ;  it  relieves  parents  from  engrossed  attention  to  their 
offspring,  softens  the  brow  of  care,  and  lightens  the  hand  of  labour.  More 
efficacious  in  reaching  the  heart  than  the  head,  in  improving  the  temper  than 
the  intellect,  it  has  been  eminently  useful  in  laying  the  foundation  of  good 
feelings,  good  principles,  and  good  habits.*  An  institution  of  this  kind  has 
been  established  in  the  city  of  New- York  by  some  ladies  who,  with  that 
characteristic  benevolence  which  forms  the  brightest  jewel  in  the  female 
character,  have  devoted  themselves  and  their  merited  influence  to  this  inesti- 
mable object.  Whenever  such  advocates  for  such  institutions  appear,  they 
are  entitled  to  the  most  liberal  benefactions  from  individuals,  and  the  most 
ample  endowments  from  the  public.  Benevolence  animates  their  hearts,  and 
charity  governs  their  lives." 


*  The  Governor's  last  Message  to  the  Legislature  of  New- York,  January  1828. 


APPENDIX. 


177 


Note  H.— p.  49. 

The  Presbyterian  Society  for  the  promotion  of  the  education  of  youth,  as 
preparatory  to  the  ministry,  has  been  but  recently  formed  in  the  city  of  New- 
York.  Mr.  Clinton  was  from  education  and  feeling  a  member  of  this  class  of 
Christians ;  but,  as  all  who  were  acquainted  with  him  well  knew,  entirely  free 
from  sectarian  dogmatism,  both  in  principles  and  in  action.  1  have  been 
favoured  with  the  following  papers  under  this  head,  from  my  friend  the  Rev. 
Samuel  H.  Cox,  D.D.  pastor  of  the  Laight-street  Presbyterian  church,  New- 
York. 

Address  of  his  late  Excellency,  De  Witt  Clinton,  on  taking  the  chair  of  the 
Presbyterian  Education  Society  as  its  presiding  Vice-President,  at  its  seventh 
anniversary,  May  1824.  He  was  afterwards,  the  same  evening,  unani- 
mously elected  President  of  the  Society,  and  continued  in  that  office  till  his 
death. 

In  consequence  of  the  resignation  of  the  worthy  and  respectable  president 
of  this  institution,  I  have  been  honoured  with  an  invitation  to  act  in  his  place  ; 
and  in  acceding  to  this  request,  I  have  felt  all  the  responsibility  attached  to 
the  occasion,  and  all  the  solicitude  connected  with  the  important  duties  which 
we  are  assembled  to  perform. 

It  is  certainly  a  work  of  supererogation  to  expatiate  on  the  high  interests 
which  are  blended  with  the  prosperity  of  this  institution.  The  solemnities  of 
the  Jewish  ritual  have  given  way  to  the  mild  administrations  of  Christianity, 
nd  the  establishment  of  the  cross  has  destroyed  the  sanguinary  prescriptions 
of  the  heathen  mythology.  With  this  change  of  the  character  of  religion, 
the  offices  and  functions  of  its  ministers  have  received  a  correspondent 
improvement ;  and  instead  of  the  priest  presenting  victims  at  the  altar  to 
propitiate  the  fabulous  deities  of  superstition,  the  christian  divine  offers  up 
prayers  to  the  almighty  father  of  the  universe — expounds  the  revelations  of 


178 


APPENDIX. 


heaven — administers  the  solemn  ordinances  of  religion,  and  exerts  all  the 
powers  of  his  mind  to  inculcate  the  observance  of  morality. 

The  experience  of  mankind  evinces  that  religion  is  essential  to  cement 
society,  and  to  promote  good  government :  and  in  reference  to  a  future  state 
it  determines  our  destinies  for  ever.  The  influence  of  religion  must  be  co- 
extensive with  the  number  and  the  character  of  its  ministers.  An  able  and 
pious  clergy  will  produce  a  moral  and  religious  people.  And  in  proportion  to 
a  deficiency  in  the  number  and  a  failure  in  the  qualifications -of  the  sacred 
ministry,  in  that  ratio  will  the  morals  of  the  people  be  affected,  and  the  interests 
of  the  community  impaired. 

In  this  state,  the  functionaries  of  religion  are  constitutionally  interdicted 
from  office,  and  in  most  of  the  states  they  are  practically  proscribed  ;  and 
it  is  well  known  that  the  emoluments  of  the  sacerdotal  office  furnish  no  allure- 
ments to  cupidity.  The  sons  of  the  great  and  the  powerful,  of  the  opulent 
and  the  ambitious,  will  seek  the  road  to  civil  distinction  or  wealth  through 
other  professions ;  and  it  thus  unfortunately  happens  that  those  most  able  to 
bestow  the  blessings  of  education  on  their  children,  are  the  most  unwilling 
that  they  should  devote  themselves  to  the  official  duties  of  religion.  This 
defect  must  be  supplied — this  evil  must  be  remedied,  by  gratuitous  education. 
And  with  this  view,  institutions  like  the  present,  which  cherish  merit  without 
any  regard  to  the  factitious  distinctions  of  society  ;  which  rescue  poverty  from 
privation,  and  elevate  humility  above  depression,  and  which  appreciate  talent 
and  virtue  in  the  abstract  without  any  connexion  with  the  endowments  of 
fortune  or  political  distinction,  are  calculated  to  enlist  in  the  cause  of  religion, 
men  of  gigantic  minds  and  wonderful  energy.  In  the  dark  abodes  of  poverty, 
and  in  the  sequestered  shades  of  obscurity,  genius  often  exhibits  its  powers, 
and  the  virtues  of  a  saint  and  a  martyr  are  frequently  cherished  with  holy 
enthusiasm.  Cultivation  and  patronage  must  unite  in  drawing  forth  these 
latent  and  dormant  energies,  and  enlisting  them  in  the  service  of  mankind. 

It  is  in  vain  to  contend  that  the  functions  of  a  christian  minister  can  be 
performed  without  education.  The  apostles  of  Christ  were,  at  first,  men 
without  the  benefits  of  literature ;  but  they  were  armed  with  the  gift  of 


I 


APPENDIX.  179 

tongues,  the  power  of  miracles,  and  the  visitations  of  the  Holy  (J host.  But, 
besides  these  preternatural  endowments,  all  the  learning  and  philosophy  of 
the  ancients  were  united  in  St.  Paul,  who  was  called  into  the  christian  church 
by  a  miraculous  interposition.  His  writings  display  the  most  powerful  talent, 
and  he  has  even  condescended  to  refer  to  some  of  the  great  classical  authors 
of  antiquity.  His  eloquence  was  of  Demosthenian  energy  ;  and  to  his  intel- 
lectual cultivation  must  be  ascribed,  to  a  certain  extent,  the  vast  consequences 
that  resulted  from  his  labours  in  the  cause  of  Christianity. 

An  able  divine  ought  to  understand  the  original  languages  in  which  the 
inspired  writers  promulgated  our  religion.  And  it  would  be  well  if  he  extended 
his  acquisitions  to  the  other  radical  languages  of  the  eastern  hemisphere. 
His  acquaintance  with  literature  and  science  ought  to  be  extensive  and 
profound  ;  and  he  should  be  deeply  read  in  moral  philosophy,  metaphysics, 
and  iheology.  He  should  also  be  master  of  all  the  points  of  polemic  discus- 
sion, and  be  prepared  not  only  to  defend  Christianity  against  the  assaults  of 
scepticism  and  infidelity,  but  to  vindicate  his  particular  creed  against  the 
objections  of  opposing  sects.  In  order  to  attain  this  intellectual  eminence, 
so  becoming  an  ambassador  of  heaven  and  a  minister  of  the  Most  High  God, 
he  must  pass  through  all  the  seminaries  of  education,  from  the  rudimental 
school  to  the  university,  and  devote  year  after  year  to  the  attainment  of  pulpit 
eloquence  and  the  acquisition  of  theological  knowledge. 

How  are  these  great  blessings  to  be  acquired  ?  By  the  union  of  the 
friends  of  religion  in  the  education  of  a  christian  minister — by  inducing  our 
youth  to  devote  themselves  to  the  altars  of  God — and  by  dispensing  the  benefits 
of  gratuitous  instruction  to  the  favourites  of  piety  and  genius,  wherever  they 
are  to  be  found.  And  let  it  be  understood  that  the  interests  of  good  govern- 
ment as  well  as  of  religion,  are  seriously  affected  by  the  want  of  religious 
instructors.  Thousands  of  places  are  now  destitute  of  christian  ministers  ; 
and  the  evils  are  felt  not  only  in  religious  privations,  but  in  the  prevalence  of 
practices  incompatible  with  the  public  welfare.  Wherever  a  good  and  an 
able  divine  is  settled,  he  will  acquire  the  love,  the  confidence,  and  the  respect 
of  his  congregation.  His  influence  will  be  felt  in  all  their  conduct,  and  a  com- 
merce of  benefit  and  gratitude  will  be  established,  which  will  reach  the  sources 


180 


APPENDIX. 


of  the  noblest  virtues,  and  exercise  the  most  powerful  control  over  the  whole 
field  of  human  action. 

The  aspect  of  the  world  is  replete  with  wonderful  indications :  within  the 
memory  and  observation  of  many  of  us,  the  most  extraordinary  events,  from 
the  American  revolution  to  the  present  period,  have  occurred.  A  new  power, 
unknown  to  the  ancients,  has  risen  up  to  direct  the  energies  and  to  superintend 
the  destinies  of  mankind.  Its  authority  is  unlimited,  its  progress  irresistible. 
It  derives  its  existence  from  the  lights  of  Christianity,  the  invention  of  printing, 
and  the  diffusion  of  education.  It  governs  the  monarch  on  the  throne  as 
well  as  the  peasant  in  the  cottage.  Need  I  say — the  power  of  public  opinion, 
which  influences  all  the  operations  and  is  felt  in  all  the  ramifications  of 
society. 

This  power,  in  order  to  be  beneficial,  ought  to  be  founded  on  just  and 
proper  grounds.  It  ought  to  be  directed  by  piety  and  knowledge.  Monitorial 
education,  Sunday  schools,  and  Bible  societies,  are  the  great  levers  which  must 
raise  public  opinion  to  its  proper  elevation  :  and  when  reinforced  and  impelled 
into  activity  by  the  ministrations  of  a  virtuous  and  enlightened  clergy,  then  the 
cause  of  liberty,  order,  and  good  government,  will  be  established  on  a  firm 
basis,  and  the  prospects  of  blessedness  in  another  and  a  better  world,  will 
brighten  the  gloom  of  seclusion,  alleviate  the  burden  of  affliction,  and  solace 
the  hour  of  death. 

Such  are  the  objects  and  such  the  tendencies  of  this  institution ;  and 
recommended  as  it  is  by  all  the  considerations  which  ought  to  operate  on  the 
man,  the  patriot,  and  the  christian,  I  feel  happy  on  this  occasion  to  offer  my 
humble  mite  for  its  support,  and  to  raise  my  feeble  voice  in  its  favour. 


APPENDIX. 


181 


"  New-York,  March  20,  1928. 

"  Dear  Sir, 

"  It  is  with  great  pleasure  that  I  attempt  to  comply  with  your 
request,  in  reference  to  our  distinguished  fellow-citizen  and  friend,  De  Witt 
Clinton.  I  am  happy  to  communicate  any  knowledge  in  my  power  respecting 
'  The  Presbyterian  Education  Society,'  that  is  now  without  a  president,  and 
that  mourns  in  the  death  of  Clinton  its  highest  officer  departed,  and  one  of 
its  very  efficient  allies  removed,  to  return  no  more. 

"This  society  was  instituted  in  1818.  I  well  recollect  the  first  meeting  for 
its  organization,  which  occurred  in  this  city.  Since  that  event,  its  success  has 
been  animating,  and  more  than  equal  to  the  sober  anticipations  of  its  founders. 
Its  object  is — to  assist  indigent  young  candidates,  of  approved  piety  and 
talents,  with  the  means  of  obtaining  a  thorough  and  accomplished  education 
for  the  sacred  ministry.  Our  first  president  was  the  venerable  Elias  Boudinot, 
LL.D.  who  continued  his  patriarchal  interest  and  oversight  in  the  society,  till 
the  hand  of  death,  breaking  the  slumbers  of  his  age,  and  waking  him  to  the 
ineffable  joys  of  heaven,  deprived  us  and  the  nation  of  his  valued  assistance. 
In  May,  1822,  the  Hon.  Jonas  Piatt,  LL.  D.  one  of  our  vice-presidents,  was 
unanimously  elected  his  successor,  and  continued  until  May,  1824,  when,  in 
consequence  of  his  removal  to  Utica,  his  resignation  was  tendered  and 
accepted.  At  this  anniversary,  Mr.  Clinton,  who  had  been  from  the  first  one 
of  our  vice-presidents,  was  unanimously  elected  president  of  the  society.  On 
that  occasion  he  pronounced  from  the  chair  an  appropriate  and  excellent 
address,  which  has  been  given  to  the  public,  and  a  copy  of  which  accompa- 
nies this  letter.  His  other  addresses,  I  believe,  were  prudentially  withholden 
from  the  press,  by  himself.  He  continued  to  sustain  the  office  and  discharge 
the  duties  of  president  with  distinguished  ability,  till  his  late  lamented  death. 
The  society  is  now  for  the  third  time  bereft  of  its  head  ;  and  while  our  loss  is 
realized,  our  prospect  of  repairing  it  is  doubtful.* 


*  "  Since  the  above  was  written,  I  have  ascertained  that  the  Hon.  Jonas  Piatt,  LL.D. 
has  been  unanimously  re-elected  to  that  office,  at  a  meeting  when  I  happened  to  be  absent." 

21 


182 


APPENDIX. 


"  Clinton  was  the  friend  of  education,  and  the  example  of  its  worth.  Rarely 
has  it  fallen  to  the  lot  of  one  man  to  unite  such  various  qualities  of  greatness 
in  his  own  person.  We  have  seen  the  homo  ad  unguem  /actus  in  examples 
comparatively  frequent — the  man  who  had  received  the  last  effect  of  educa- 
tion, and  who  would  have  been  a  cipher  without  it ;  we  have  seen  also  the 
paragon  of  native  genius,  presuming  on  its  untutored  resources,  and  evincing 
the  deplorable  want  of  the  application  which  he  scorned,  catching  at  imaginary 
grandeur  or  wantoning  in  impracticable  achievements,  great  even  in  his  eccen- 
tricities, and  almost  redeeming  his  name  from  the  infamy  of  uselessness  by  the 
vigour  and  vividness  of  his  exploits;  we  have  seen  the  sage  of  learned 
abstractions,  conversant  only  with  books  and  sepulchred  in  a  library,  the  asso- 
ciate of  the  ancients  and  a  stranger  to  his  contemporaries,  his  name  quoted  by 
the  scholars  of  another  hemisphere,  and  unknown  in  the  vicinity  of  his  own 
dwelling,  to  whom  the  numerical  population  of  his  country  was  a  secret,  and 
the  use  of  a  table  of  national  statistics  a  thing  insolvable — who  could  recite 
Homer  and  Demosthenes,  Longinus  and  Virgil,  Horace  and  Cicero,  as  his 
vernacular  alphabet,  but  who  could  do  nothing  and  think  nothing  in  practical 
detail ;  we  have  seen  mental  giants,  possessing  many  noble  qualities,  but  with 
no  symmetry  or  balance  between  them,  and  with  whom  some  prominent  defect 
sufficed  to  ruin  or  debilitate  all  the  attributes  of  eminence :  but  Clinton  was, 
1  think,  remarkable  at  once  for  the  combination  of  great  qualities  and  the 
happy  equilibrium  of  their  adjustment.  He  certainly  possessed  an  extraordi- 
nary self  command,  an  elevated  and  comprehensive  vision,  and  a  singular 
discretion,  as  well  as  a  momentum  of  original  thought,  that  was  seen  in  its 
effects  and  acknowledged  in  its  utilities.  His  eloquence  evinced  a  native 
vein,  while  classical  accuracy,  splendid  imagery,  and  verbal  affluence  every- 
where marked  his  style.  He  was,  perhaps,  not  eminently  gifted  at  extempo- 
raneous effort ;  he  generally  declined  it ;  yet  the  fruits  of  time  and  care 
rewarded  the  patience  of  cultivation,  and  commended  the  soil  in  which  they 
grew.  He  was  unquestionably  a  man  of  genius,  a  scholar,a  jurist,a  statesman, an 
enlightened  political  economist,  a  deep  and  practical  projector,  and  a  polished 
gentleman ;  in  all  or  in  each  he  had  few  equals  in  any  age.  He  was  no 
visionary.    His  native  state  and  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen  contain,  and 


APPENDIX. 


183 


will  perpetuate,  the  monuments  of  his  usefulness.  Neither  was  he  superficial, 
credulous,  or  precipitate. 

Felix  qui  potuit  rerum  cognoscere  causas. 

He  was  the  philosopher  of  evidence  ;  a  disciple  of  the  Baconian  school,  and 
utility  was  the  motto  of  his  plans  for  aggrandizing  the  community.  As  an 
officer  of  the  Education  Society,  he  was  universally  honoured.  Punctual  in 
his  attendance ;  no  sinecure  occupant  of  a  lofty  seat,  but  an  intellectual 
and  pecuniary  contributor  to  the  cause.  He  was  not  unacquainted  with  the 
rational  evidence  that  demonstrates  the  divinity  of  the  faith  of  christians;  and 
his  testimony  is  worth  volumes.  It  will  be  quoted  by  christian  apologists  and 
future  Americans,  when  all  the  oppugncrs  of  revelation  shall  sleep  in  un- 
grudged  oblivion. 

"That  he  never  professed  at  the  communion-table  his  faith  in  the  testimo- 
nies and  his  hope  in  the  promises  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ — could  he  have 
done  this  with  devout  consistency — I  can  neither  cease  to  regret  nor  forbear  to 
particularise.  Washington  was  a  professor  of  religion  ;  and  amid  the  happy 
recollections  that  embalm  the  memory  of  our  national  patriarch,  the  fact  of 
his  '  professed  subjection  to  the  gospel  of  Christ,'  should  not  be  suffered  to 
moulder  with  his  neglected  sepulchre.*  This  chasm  in  the  character  of  Clinton 


*  "  I  have  the  following  anecdote  from  unquestionable  authority.  It  has  never,  I  think, 
been  given  to  the  public ;  but  I  received  it  from  a  venerable  clergyman,  who  had  it  from 
the  hps  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Jones  himself.  To  all  christians,  and  to  all  Americans,  it  cannot 
fail  to  be  acceptable. 

"  While  the  American  army,  under  the  command  of  Washington,  lay  encamped  in  the 
environs  of  Morris  Town,  New- Jersey,  it  occurred  that  the  service  of  the  communion  (then 
observed  semi-annually  only)\vas  to  be  administered  in  the  Presbyterian  church  of  that  village. 
In  a  morning  of  the  previous  week,  the  General,  after  his  accustomed  inspection  of  the 
camp,  visited  the  house  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Jones,  then  pastor  of  that  church,  and  after  the 
usual  preliminaries,  thus  accosted  him.  '  Doctor,  I  understand  that  the  Lord's  Supper  is  to 
be  celebrated  with  you  next  Sunday ;  I  would  learn  if  it  accords  with  the  canons  of  your 
church  to  admit  communicants  of  another  denomination?'  The  Doctor  rejoined — 'Most 
certainly ;  ours  is  not  the  Presbyterian  table,  General,  but  the  Lord's  table  ;  and  we  hence 


184 


APPENDIX. 


was  one  of  which  I  have  reason  to  think  he  was  not  wholly  unconscious.  He 
was  my  personal  friend,  and  I  was  certainly  not  ungrateful  for  his  friendship, 
however  unworthy  of  it.  Many  valued  traces  of  his  esteem  are  preserved  in 
my  memory,  and  some  are  filed  in  the  documents  of  a  private  correspondence. 
He  received  the  epistolary  expostulations  of  christian  faithfulness  '  as  the 
offspring  of  religion  and  friendship,'  and  expressed  his  gratification  with  their 
plain  appeal.  He  was  decisively  attached  to  the  denomination  to  which  the 
society  appertains,  but  with  no  illiberal  or  contracted  predilections;  such 
sordid  ingredients  of  character  being  rejected  in  common  by  the  head  and  the 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  Education  Society. 

"  But  he  has  gone  !  '  Before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ,'  where  greatness 
associates  itself  with  responsibility,  or  is  identified  with  moral  virtues,  or 
retires  unseen,  his  audit  has  been  sped,  and  we  are  hastening  to  the  same 
ordeal  of  impartiality  and  truth  !  i  Glory,  honour,  immortality,'  are  legi- 
timate objects  of  aspiration,  and  they  are  definable  and  attainable  too,  when 
sought  in  the  ways  of  piety  towards  God.  Let  us  be  admonished  by  the 
transitoriness  of  time,  by  the  splendid  emptiness  of  all  things  without  an 
interest  in  the  Saviour,  and  especially  by  the  sudden  departure  of  a  nation's 
hope,  to  live  for  eternity  ! 

 winged  by  heaven 

To  fly  at  infinite,  and  reach  it  there, 
Where  seraphs  gather  immortality, 
On  life's  fair  tree,  fast  by  the  throne  of  God. 

"  With  great  respect,  Dear  Sir, 

"  I  remain,  yours,  &c. 

„  m  n  t  t  n  "  SAMUEL  H.  COX." 

David  Hosack,  M.D.  LL.  D. 


give  the  Lord's  invitation  to  all  his  followers,  of  whatever  name.'  The  General  replied, 1 1 
am  glad  of  it ;  that  is  as  it  ought  to  be:  but  as  I  was  not  quite  sure  of  the  fact,  I  thought 
I  would  ascertain  it  from  yourself,  as  I  propose  to  join  with  you  on  that  occasion.  Though  a 
member  of  the  Church  of  England,  I  have  no  exclusive  partialities.'  The  Doctor  re-assured 
him  of  a  cordial  welcome,  and  the  General  was  found  seated  with  the  communicants  the 
next  Sabbath." 


APPENDIX. 


185 


Note  I. — p.  54. 

Mr.  Clinton,  as  the  chief  magistrate  of  this  city,  having  been  many  years 
associated  with  the  Hon.  Richard  Riker,  the  present  recorder,  I  addressed 
to  the  latter  the  following  letter,  and  received  in  reply  the  subjoined  commu- 
nication. 

New- York,  May  17th,  1828. 

Dear  Sir, 

Knowing  that  you  have  been  many  years  associated  with  Mr.  Clinton  in 
the  various  official  stations  you  have  held,  more  especially  as  District  Attorney 
and  as  Recorder,  you  must  have  had  a  very  ample  opportunity  of  intimately 
knowing  his  merits  as  a  criminal  judge,  the  duties  of  which  as  Mayor,  he 
frequently  had  occasion  to  perform.  Allow  me  to  ask  the  favour  of  you  to 
give  me  your  views  of  Mr.  Clinton's  character  in  that  important  station.  I 
am  aware  of  the  occasional  feelings  that  occurred  to  mar  the  friendship  which 
subsisted  between  you,  but  I  also  well  know  your  magnanimity  is  such  that 
these  have  long  since  been  obliterated,  and  that  you  will  not  consider  this 
application  from  me  as  a  departure  from  propriety  or  delicacy.  It  proceeds 
from  my  desire  to  give  a  faithful  portrait  of  my  friend  in  the  performance  of 
the  duty  that  has  been  assigned  me. 

Very  truly  and  respectfully  yours, 

DAVID  HOSACK. 

The  Hon.  Richard  Riker,  Recorder. 


"  New-York,  19th  May,  1828. 

"  Dear  Sir, 

"  It  affords  me  great  satisfaction  to  reply  to  your  note  of  the  17th 
instant.  Whatever  differences  may  have  existed  between  Mr.  Clinton  and 
myself,  they  are  buried  in  oblivion.  I  remember  only  the  days  when  we  were 
friends.    You  have  recalled  those  days  to  my  recollection. 


186 


APPENDIX. 


"  Mr.  Clinton  was  the  chief  magistrate  of  our  city  for  nearly  ten  years.  As 
such  he  was  the  presiding  judge  in  the  court  of  General  Sessions.  During 
almost  the  whole  of  that  period  I  was  the  district  attorney,  and  conducted 
before  him  the  criminal  business  of  the  city.  You  ask  me  to  give  his  charac- 
ter in  the  highly  important  station  of  judge.  My  answer  is, — that  he  was,  in 
my  opinion,  one  of  the  safest  judges  that  ever  presided  in  a  court  of  criminal 
jurisdiction.  He  was  patient — discriminating — master  of  all  the  great  princi- 
ples of  criminal  law — severe  where  justice  required  it,  but  always  inclined  to 
the  side  of  mercy. 

"  In  confirmation  of  this  opinion  of  mine,  it  is  due  to  the  memory  of  Mr. 
Clinton  to  state  the  sentiments  of  a  political  opponent,  and  one  of  the  most 
accomplished  advocates,  who  has  at  any  period  adorned  our  bar.  I  refer  to 
the  late  Washington  Morton.  He  has  often  said  to  me,  that  were  he  to  be 
put  upon  trial  for  his  life,  and  could  select  his  judge,  he  would  choose  De  Witt 
Clinton.  Many  of  Mr.  Clinton's  charges  to  the  grand  jury  have  been  published, 
and  have  uniformly  commanded  respect,  not  less  for  the  comprehensive  views 
taken  by  him  of  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  grand  inquest,  than  the  style  in 
which  those  addresses  were  written. 

"  Very  respectfully  your  obedient  servant, 

"  RICHARD  RIKER." 

"  Professor  Hosack." 


Note  J. — p.  58. 

At  a  meeting  of  a  number  of  merchants  trading  in  Pearl-street,  assembled 
on  Thursday,  December  4th,  1823,  for  the  purpose  of  expressing  to  the 
Honourable  De  Witt  Clinton,  their  gratitude  for  the  services  he  has  rendered 
to  the  state  of  New-York,  in  relation  to  internal  improvements.  Mr.  Peter 
Crary  was  called  to  the  chair,  and  Isaac  S.  Hone  appointed  secretary. 

Resolved,  That  the  conception  of  the  grand  design  of  the  Northern  and 
Western  canals,  the  removal  of  the  prejudices  which  opposed  their  adoption, 


APPENDIX. 


187 


and  the  conducting  them  to  an  early  and  successful  completion,  are  the 
results  of  the  sagacity,  zeal,  and  perseverance,  of  the  Hon.  De  Witt  Clinton. 

Resolved,  That  those  eminent  services  claim  for  him  the  proudest  title 
which  our  country  can  bestow— that  of  PUBLIC  BENEFACTOR. 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  be  appointed  to  carry  into  effect  the  design  of 
this  meeting,  and  that  this  committee  have  full  power  to  procure  and  present 
to  Mr.  Clinton,  in  the  name  of  the  merchants  trading  in  Pearl-street,  such 
pieces  of  silver  plate  as  they  may  consider  appropriate. 

Resolved,  That  the  following  persons,  together  with  the  chairman  and 
secretary,  compose  the  committee  ;  John  Haggerty,  James  Heard,  Nathaniel 
Richards,  Arthur  Tappan,  Edward  M.  Greenway,  Amos  Palmer,  Ralph 
Olmsted,  Frederick  Sheldon,  Najah  Taylor. 

Peter  Crary,  Chairman. 
Isaac  S.  Hone,  Secretary. 

To  Artists. 

A  premium  of  $100  is  offered  for  the  best  design  for  two  vases,  to  be  made 
in  pursuance  of  the  preceding  resolutions.  It  is  the  wish  of  the  committee, 
that  the  vases  should  be  of  the  same  outline,  but  differing  in  ornament. 


Presentation  of  the  Clinton  Vases. 

The  superb  silver  vases  procured  at  the  expense  of  the  Pearl-street  (New- 
York)  merchants,  intended  as  a  present  for  Governor  Clinton,  were  presented 
to  him  by  a  committee  of  the  donors  on  Saturday,  March  19th,  1825,  at  his 
house  in  the  city  of  Albany,  in  the  presence  of  upwards  of  a  hundred  citizens 
and  strangers  of  distinction.  We  are  told  by  those  who  were  present  on  the 
occasion,  that  the  ceremony  was  very  imposing,  and  excited  feelings  of  the 
most  deep-toned  interest.  On  presenting  the  vases,  Mr.  Hone,  on  the  part  of 
the  committee,  delivered  the  following  address  : 


188 


APPENDIX. 


"  Governor  Clinton, 

"  In  behalf  of  the  merchants  of  Pearl-street,  in  the  city  of  New-York, 
who  are  deeply  impressed  with  a  sense  of  the  benefits  which  you  have  con- 
ferred upon  this  state,  we  have  the  honour  to  present  to  you  these  vases,  as  a 
testimony  of  their  gratitude  and  respect. 

"  At  an  early  period,  your  sagacity  appreciated  the  importance  of  uniting 
the  waters  of  Lake  Erie  with  those  of  the  Hudson,  and  your  devotion  to  the 
public  interest  induced  you  to  urge  it  upon  the  legislature,  with  all  the  weight 
of  your  influence.  What  was  then  theory,  has  now  become  a  splendid  reality, 
and  at  every  new  developement  of  our  resources,  and  every  new  display  of 
the  power  and  grandeur  of  our  state,  its  citizens  feel  additional  inducements 
to  admire  and  honour  your  character.  ' 

"  Among  the  interesting  considerations  which  your  name  involves,  it  is  not 
the  least  important,  that  your  fellow-citizens  have  recently  recalled  you  to 
the  office  which  gives  such  ample  scope  to  your  talents,  and  that  you  have 
preferred  the  discharge  of  its  duties  to  the  honours  of  a  foreign  embassy.  We 
sincerely  hope  that  your  administration  will  be  as  gratifying  to  yourself,  as  it 
will  be  beneficial  to  your  constituents. 


Committee. 


PETER  CRARY, 
JAMES  HEARD, 
NAJAH  TAYLOR, 


ARTHUR  TAPPAN, 
EDWARD  M.  GREENWAY, 
AMOS  PALMER, 
RALPH  OLMSTED, 
FREDERICK  SHELDON, 


NATHANIEL  RICHARDS, 
JOHN  HAGGERTY, 


ISAAC  S.  HONE. 


APPENDIX. 


189 


Governor  Clinton's  Reply. 

Gentlemen, 

"  1  receive  these  splendid  fabrics  with  the  highest  gratification.  In  the 
design  and  in  the  execution,  they  reflect  honour  on  the  taste,  skill,  and  inge- 
nuity of  our  artists,  and  in  that  light  they  are  acceptable  :  but  they  come  to 
me  with  superior  recommendations,  as  the  offering  of  regard  from  the  hands 
of  gentlemen  whose  good  opinions  I  greatly  value,  and  whose  friendship  I 
sincerely  reciprocate. 

"  On  this  occasion,  I  cannot  but  felicitate  you  (as  the  representatives  of  a 
most  important  section  of  the  most  commercial  city  in  the  western  world,) 
not  only  on  the  flourishing  condition  of  our  great  emporium,  but  on  the  still 
more  exalted  destinies  that  await  it.  Its  unrivalled  position  near  the  ocean, 
and  its  facilities  of  interior  communication  with  the  most  extensive  and  fertile 
regions,  give  it  pre-eminent  advantages.  Making  full  allowances  for  the 
occurrence  of  those  great  moral  and  physical  evils,  which  have  scourged  the 
human  race,  we  may  confidently  predict,  that  your  progress  will  be  accelerated, 
and  that  every  accession  of  population  and  opulence  will  be  the  parent  of 
new  acquisitions.  In  one  year  more  houses  have  been  added  to  New-York, 
than  at  present  compose  the  ancient  and  prosperous  city  in  which  I  now 
address  you.  At  this  very  moment  the  inhabitants  of  the  counties  connected 
with  the  Ohio,  the  Delaware,  the  Susquehannah,  the  Connecticut,  the  St. 
Lawrence,  and  the  Mississippi  rivers,  and  with  our  vast  inland  seas,  are 
seeking  with  solicitude  navigable  communications  with  your  city.  And 
without  yielding  to  the  dreams  of  visionary  hypothesis,  or  the  chimeras  of 
delusive  anticipation,  we  may  expect,  before  the  lapse  of  many  years,  the 
consummation  of  these  designs,  and  a  consequent  state  of  unexampled  pros- 
perity. And  we  may  certainly  cherish  these  expectations  without  the  just 
imputation  of  arrogance  or  ostentation.  We  ought  to  know  our  power  with  a 
view  to  its  judicious  application  ;  and  we  should  form  a  just  estimate  of  our 
faculties  and  capabilities,  in  order  to  promote  in  the  most  effectual  manner, 
the  welfare  of  our  country  and  the  happiness  of  mankind. 

"  The  favourable  views  which  my  fellow-citizens  generally,  have  taken  of 
my  agency  in  developing  the  resources  and  advancing  the  prosperity  of  the 

22 


190 


APPENDIX. 


commonwealth,  are  the  greatest  reward,  next  to  the  approbation  of  my  own 
conscience,  which  I  can  enjoy  in  this  world.  If  I  have  been  hitherto  an 
humble  instrument  in  the  hands  of  Providence,  of  dispensing  some  benefits  to 
my  fellow-citizens,  I  have  every  inducement  from  their  kindness,  so  often,  so 
strikingly,  and  I  may  say,  so  uniformly  manifested,  for  devoting  my  best  and 
my  future  exertions  in  the  same  career. 

"  I  pray  you,  gentlemen,  to  present  my  grateful  and  respectful  acknow- 
ledgments to  your  constituents  for  these  flattering  testimonials  of  their 
esteem  ;  and  permit  me  to  express  to  you  the  high  sense  which  I  entertain  of 
the  honour  you  have  conferred  on  me  by  your  personal  attendance  on  this 
occasion. 

"  DE  WITT  CLINTON." 

«  Albany,  March  19th,  1825." 


Description  of  the  vases*  presented  to  Governor  Clinton,  by  the  merchants  of 
Pearl-street,  in  the  city  of  Netc-York,  in  testimony  of  their  gratitude  and 
respect  for  his  public  services. 

The  form  of  these  vases  is  copied  from  the  celebrated  antique  vase,  found 
among  the  ruins  of  the  Villa  of  Adrian,  and  now  in  the  possession  of  the  Earl 
of  Warwick.  The  handles  and  some  of  the  ornaments  are  also  similar  to 
those  upon  that  beautiful  specimen  of  ancient  art ;  but  all  the  tablets  and 
figures  in  bas  relief  are  different,  and  exhibit  scenes  upon  the  Grand  Canal,  or 
allegorical  illustrations  of  the  progress  of  the  arts  and  sciences. 

The  vases  are  twenty-four  inches  in  height,  twenty-one  inches  between  the 
extremities  of  the  handles,  and  the  diameter  of  the  body  in  the  largest  part 
is  fourteen  inches  ;  the  weight  of  silver  in  each  is  about  four  hundred  ounces. 

Their  form  is  circular,  except  that  the  lower  part  is  slightly  elliptical,  as  are 
also  the  covers,  each  of  which  is  surmounted  by  an  eagle  standing  upon  a 
section  of  the  globe,  upon  which  is  traced  part  of  the  outline  of  the  state 
of  New-York ;  he  bears  in  one  talon  the  arms  of  the  state,  and  in  the  other 


*  Made  by  Messrs.  Fletcher  and  Gardner,  Philadelphia,  and  designed  by  the  former. 


APPENDIX. 


191 


a  laurel  wreath.  The  pedestal  is  square,  and  supported  by  four  claws ;  two 
sides  of  the  pedestal  of  the  first  vase  are  ornamented  with  foliage  and  scroll- 
work, with  an  oval  medallion  bearing  a  river  deity  leaning  on  an  inverted 
vase.    The  third  contains  the  inscription  : 

TO  THE 

HONOURABLE  DE  WITT  CLINTON, 

WHO  HAS 

DEVELOPED  THE  RESOURCES  OF  THE  STATE  OF  NEW-YORK, 

AND 

Ennobled  her  Character, 

THE 

MERCHANTS  OF  PEARL-STREET 

OFFER  THIS 

TESTIMONY  OF  THEIR  GRATITUDE  AND  RESPECT. 

The  fourth  exhibits  a  number  of  figures,  which,  in  connexion  with  those  on 
the  corresponding  section  of  the  other  vase,  are  intended  to  represent  the 
progress  of  the  Arts  and  Sciences,  from  their  rude  origin  to  their  present  im- 
provement. On  the  right  of  the  spectator  appears  a  pastoral  group  listening 
to  the  pipe  of  Mercury ;  next  to  these  is  a  husbandman  leaning  on  his  spade, 
and  gazing  upon  a  hive,  while  a  female  figure  points  to  the  labours  of  the 
industrious  bee  ;  then  appears  Minerva  without  her  helmet  and  shield,  directing 
the  attention  of  the  spectator  to  a  bust  which  Sculpture  is  chiseling.  The 
concave  belt  around  the  middle  of  this  vase  bears  six  tablets  in  has  relief ;  the 
two  centre  tablets  exhibit  views  of  the  Cohoos  Falls,  and  of  the  Little  Falls 
of  the  Mohawk,  with  the  stone  aqueduct  and  bridge,  and  parts  of  the  canal. 
The  figures  on  each  side  of  the  former  are  Fame  and  History ;  on  one  side  of 
the  latter  is  an  Indian  contemplating  the  stump  of  a  tree  recently  felled,  and 
the  axe  lying  at  its  root ;  and  on  the  other,  Plenty  with  her  cornucopia  ;  a 
head  of  Neptune,  with  his  trident,  dolphins,  and  shells,  is  placed  at  each 
extremity  of  this  belt,  under  the  grape-vine  handles. 

On  the  second  vase,  two  sides  of  the  pedestal  are  ornamented  with  foliage, 
&c.  as  on  the  first ;  the  third  contains  the  inscription  : 


192 


APPENDIX. 


TO  THE 

HONOURABLE  DE  WITT  CLINTON, 

WHOSE  CLAIMS 

TO  THE  PROUD  TITLE  OF  PUBLIC  BENEFACTOR, 

IS  FOUNDED  ON  THOSE 

JUaflntficcnt  OTorfcs, 

THE 

NORTHERN  AND  WESTERN  CANALS. 

On  the  fourth  side  is  Architecture  leaning  upon  a  column,  with  a  level  at  its 
base.  Then  a  youth  holding  a  drawing  board  with  a  diagram  of  one  of  the 
first  problems  in  mathematics,  and  an  old  man  directing  his  attention  to  the 
figures  beyond,  which  denote  the  sciences  still  unexplored,  and  encouraging 
him  to  persevere.  The  next  group  is  composed  of  two  aged  persons  contem- 
plating a  globe  held  by  a  female,  who  points  to  some  lines  upon  its  surface. 
Next  is  a  figure  with  a  torch  in  the  right  hand,  and  a  star  on  the  head,  holding 
in  the  left  hand  a  tablet  with  a  diagram ;  by  his  side  is  a  sundial,  and  an 
athletic  figure  beyond  holds  a  pair  of  dividers,  and  gazes  attentively  upon  the 
female  with  the  globe.  This  group  is  intended  to  indicate  the  study  of  the 
sciences.  The  concave  belt  around  this  vase  is  also  embellished  with  six 
tablets.  The  front  view  is  the  grand  lock  and  part  of  the  basin  at  Albany, 
where  the  canal  is  connected  with  the  Hudson,  together  with  the  mansion  of 
Mr.  Van  Rensselaer  and  the  adjacent  scenery,  and  canal  boats  passing.  The 
plate  on  the  right  of  this  tablet  exhibits  Ceres,  with  the  emblems  of  argricul- 
ture  ;  that  on  the  left,  Mercury,  with  the  emblems  of  commerce.  The  reverse 
centre  tablet  contains  a  view  of  the  aqueduct  at  Rochester,  and  a  boat  pass- 
ing, drawn  by  horses  ;  below  are  seen  the  falls  of  the  Genesee,  and  a  number 
of  unfinished  buildings.  This  view  is  supported  on  the  right  and  left  by 
Minerva  and  Hercules,  indicating  wisdom  and  strength. 

The  lower  compartment  of  the  body  of  each  vase  is  ornamented  with  acan- 
thus leaves,  intermingled,  at  proper  distances,  with  small  shrubs,  among  which 
are  seen  the  wild  animals  who  haunted  our  western  region  before  the  industry 
and  enterprise  of  our  brethren  made  "  the  wilderness  to  rejoice  and  blossom 
as  the  rose.1' 


APPENDIX. 


193 


Note  K.— p.  60. 
Letter  from  the  Hon.  James  Kent,  LL.l). 

"  New-York,  Oct.  6,  1828. 

"  Dear  Sir, 

"  Agreeably  to  your  request,  I  send  you  a  memorandum  of  the  judicial 
opinions  delivered  by  Governor  Clinton,  while  he  was  a  member  of  the  Court 
of  Errors.  Though  1  cannot  subscribe  to  all  their  conclusions,  yet  you  will  find 
them  to  have  been  ably  written,  and  they  do  much  credit  to  his  vigorous  power 
of  reasoning,  and  the  force  and  fervour  of  his  style. 

In  Feb.  1802,  he  delivered  an  opinion  on  the  great  and  much  contested 
question  respecting  the  effect  to  be  given  to  foreign  Admiralty  decisions. — See 
his  opinion  in  2.  Johnson's  Cases,  457.  and  2.  Caine's  Cases  in  Error,  283. 

In  1807,  he  gave  an  opinion  on  important  points  in  insurance  law,  and 
another  on  nice  and  technical  questions  arising  on  pleadings. — See  2.  Johnson's 
Rep.  543.  565. 

In  1808,  he  gave  an  opinion  on  the  Judiciary  Act  of  the  United  States. — 
See  3.  Johnson's  Rep.  560. 

In  1808,  he  also  delivered  an  opinion  of  much  force  and  eloquence 
relating  to  the  valuation  of  the  Rose  Hill  estate,  on  York  Island. — See  7. 
Johnson's  Rep.  617. 

In  1809,  he  discussed  at  large  in  one  of  his  opinions  the  doctrine  of  Libel. 
—See  5.  Johnson's  Rep.  434.  528. 

In  1810,  he  delivered  several  opinions  arising  upon  the  discussions  in  the 
highly  litigated  case  of  John  V.  N.  Yates,  respecting  the  power  of  commit- 
ment for  Contempt,  and  the  construction  of  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act. 

Some  of  these  opinions  are  models  of  judicial  and  parliamentary  eloquence, 
and  they  all  relate  to  important  questions  affecting  constitutional  rights  and 
personal  liberty. 

You  will  be  able  to  see  the  books  referred  to  in  every  lawyer's  library,  and 
I  think  you  will  find  the  opinions  I  have  mentioned  to  be  well  worth  your 


194 


APPENDIX. 


perusal.  They  partake  more  of  the  character  of  a  statesman's  discussions, 
than  of  that  of  a  dry  technical  lawyer,  and  are  therefore  much  more  interest- 
ing to  the  general  scholar. 

"Yours  sincerely, 

"  JAMES  KENT." 

"  Doctor  Hosack." 


Note  L. — p.  61. 

Letter  from  Counsellor  Sampson. 

New-York,  Oct.  14th,  1828. 

"  Dear  Sir, 

"  When  you  do  me  the  honour  to  require  my  opinion  of  Mr.  Clin- 
ton's legal  character,  I  presume  that  more  is  intended  than  his  merits  as  a 
mere  lawyer,  qualified  for  the  ordinary  walks  of  the  profession.  Long  before 
I  could  know  him,  he  had  given  up  those  pursuits,  which  probably  did  not 
comport  with  the  bent  of  his  genius  or  his  ambition.  It  would  therefore  be 
no  disparagement  to  suppose  that  he  did  not  possess  all  the  knowledge  of 
technical  rules  and  forms,  or  of  book  cases,  which  require  long  and  exclusive 
devotion  to  their  attainment,  and  are  hardly  retained  in  memory  but  by  fre- 
quent and  constant  application.  But  he  most  undoubtedly  was  master  of  the 
great  and  leading  principles  of  the  laws  and  constitutions  of  his  country,  and 
of  general  jurisprudence  ;  and  when  questions  of  difficulty  came  before  him, 
there  was  none  that  could  better  or  more  promptly  seize  the  true  bearings  of 
the  case,  and  place  it  on  its  true  foundation,  and  by  the  force  of  a  discriminat- 
ing and  unsophisticated  judgment,  clear  it  from  all  perplexing  embarrassments. 
The  law  never  suffered  by  any  judgment  or  opinion  delivered  by  him,  but 
often  acquired  additional  dignity  from  his  manly  and  liberal  expositions.  His 
official  messages  to  successive  legislatures  were  faithful  tables  of  the  condition 
and  true  interests  of  our  state,  and  were  never  fairly  and  freely  acted  upon, 
but  with  great  public  benefit  ;  and  as  a  magistrate,  a  legislator,  a  jurist,  and  a 


APPENDIX. 


195 


judge,  he  stood  equally  distinguished,  and  never  more  so  than  when  in  the 
exercise  of  criminal  jurisdiction,  where  a  large  discretion  is  given  to  the  judge 
in  apportioning  the  punishment  in  so  many  cases  of  misdemeanor,  as  well 
by  statute  as  by  common  law,  where  broad  views  of  human  nature  and  its 
frailties,  the  absence  of  narrow  prejudices,  and  moral  courage  to  withstand 
all  undue  influence,  are  so  essential.  In  this  latter  quality  Mr.  Clinton  was 
characteristically  and  intrinsically  strong. 

"  In  the  councils  of  the  nation,  in  the  councils  of  the  state,  in  the  court  of 
last  resort  of  this  great  and  leading  member  of  the  union,  he  has  left  many 
monuments  of  an  enlarged  and  comprehensive  mind,  that  it  would  be  difficult 
to  select,  and  endless  to  pursue  them  in  detail.  The  commercial  part  of  our 
community,  that  important  portion  of  our  active  population,  feel  and  acknow- 
ledge his  useful  services.  They  know  how  instrumental  he  was  in  freeing 
their  property  from  usurped  authority,  and  slavish  compliance  with  the  decrees 
of  foreign  jurisdictions,  made  in  direct  opposition  to  our  interests  and  to  inter- 
national justice  and  equality.  He  also  recommended  the  passage  of  a  law 
to  secure  our  merchants  and  dealers  from  the  danger  of  secret  liens  upon 
goods,  in  the  hands  of  factors  and  other  agents  appearing  as  the  absolute 
owners ;  but  he  did  not  live  to  see  that  suggestion  carried  into  effect.  It 
would  far  exceed  the  limits  or  objects  of  this  letter  to  pursue  this  subject  in 
its  extent,  or  to  point  out  the  instances  where  the  masculine  energies  of  his 
mind  had  tended  to  overcome  the  force  of  prejudice,  and  open  the  way  to 
such  improvements  as  the  progress  of  his  age  and  country  called  for.  It  may, 
however,  be  but  an  act  of  justice  to  record  and  call  to  mind  that  he  was  the 
first  chief  magistrate  of  any  state  in  this  union,  who  ventured  in  the  face  of 
long-rooted  prejudice,  to  recommend  a  complete  code  or  digest  of  our  laws. 
Of  the  utility,  if  not  necessity  of  such  a  measure,  the  opinion  of  such  a  states- 
man is  of  itself  some  proof;  the  progress  of  that  sentiment  here  and  in 
England,  where  the  greatest  masters  of  law  and  jurisprudence  have  expounded 
it  both  in  and  out  of  Parliament,  is  a  further  confirmation;  and  however 
timidly  and  doubtingly  received,  as  great  plans  of  improvement  often  are,  it 
may  hereafter  be  added  as  a  posthumous  wreath  to  crown  his  well-earned  fame. 


196 


APPENDIX. 


"  I  am  glad  that  the  eulogy  of  your  distinguished  friend  is  in  such  good  hands  ; 
in  some  points  you  have  been  ably  anticipated,  but  the  interest  is  still  fresh,  and 
your  zeal  undiminished.  If  this  letter  has  any  thing  worthy  your  attention,  it 
is  at  your  service  ;  make  of  it  what  use  you  think  proper. 

"  I  am,  dear  sir,  your  friend  and  servant, 

"  WILLIAM  SAMPSON.'' 

"  To  Dr.  David  Hosack." 


Note. — p.  65. 

De  Witt  Clinton  and  the  late  War. 

The  following  letter  from  the  late  Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  Esq.  silences  for  ever 
the  charge  which  has  been  so  often  reiterated,  that  Mr.  Clinton  was  unfriendly 
to  the  prosecution  of  the  late  war.  It  is  already  known  that  Mr.  Clinton  was 
active  and  efficient  in  procuring  money  for  the  general  government  to  carry 
on  the  war ;  that  the  officers  of  the  United  States  repeatedly  and  gratefully 
acknowledged  his  services ;  and  that  no  public  officer  took  more  pride  and 
pleasure,  in  bestowing  the  civic  honours  which  the  corporation  of  New- York 
awarded  to  our  gallant  and  naval  military  heroes,  in  a  manner  that  reflected 
equal  credit  on  his  head  and  his  heart.  The  following  document  will  show 
that  it  was  not  his  fault  that  he  did  not  engage  in  actual  service.  It  is  perhaps 
unnecessary,  at  this  time,  to  inquire  whether  Governor  Tompkins  had  any 
design  in  thus  excluding  an  active  and  able  officer  from  the  public  service. 
The  reason  assigned,  that  it  might  give  offence  to  older  generals,  is  entirely 
unfounded  ;  as  every  man  who  knows  any  thing  of  the  late  war,  knows  that 
generals  were  selected  to  command  without  reference  to  the  dates  of  their 
commissions.  One  thing  is  certainly  extraordinary,  that  while  Mr.  Tompkins 
was  so  anxious  to  communicate  to  the  public  the  patriotic  language  of  the 
Hon.  Rufus  King,  he  should  have  forgotten  the  offer  of  Governor  Clinton. 


APPENDIX. 


197 


To  the  Hon.  John  C.  Spencer,  Esq.  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Assembly. 

"Albany,  March  21st,  1820. 

"  Dear  Sir, 

"  I  have  this  morning  been  honoured  with  your  letter,  requesting  from 
me  the  information  I  may  possess,  respecting  Governor  Clinton's  application 
during  the  late  war  to  Governor  Tompkins,  for  an  active  command,  and  an 
opportunity  to  render  his  services  in  carrying  on  the  war. 

"Although  I  am  in  general  unwilling  to  have  my  name  introduced  into 
public  discussions,  yet  I  have  always  held  myself  bound  to  give  to  Governor 
Clinton,  or  the  Vice  President,  or  to  the  friends  of  either  of  those  gentlemen, 
as  full  a  statement  of  what  I  know  of  that  transaction,  as  my  memory  and  the 
lapse  of  time  may  permit. 

"  In  the  summer  of  1814,  Mr.  Clinton,  who  was  then  mayor  of  the  city  of 
New-York,  requested  me  to  be  the  bearer  of  an  application  from  him  to  Gov. 
Tompkins,  to  be  called  into  active  military  service,  and  particularly  as  appre- 
hensions then  began  to  be  entertained  for  the  safety  of  the  city  over  which  he 
presided.  I  had  previously  understood,  or  was  then  informed,  (and  I  cannot 
now  say  which)  that  the  late  General  Curtenius,  had  informally  suggested  the 
same  thing  to  Governor  Tompkins,  but  apparently  without  success.  That 
circumstance,  and  the  manner  in  which  I  was  applied  to,  induced  me  to  be  very 
explicit  in  stating  to  Governor  Tompkins  that  I  came  directly  from  the  mayor. 
At  the  same  time  I  took  the  liberty  of  urging  from  myself  such  arguments  as 
appeared  to  me  best  calculated  to  second  the  application.  Governor  Tomp- 
kins, as  far  as  I  now  recollect,  made  but  one  objection.  He  said  that  Mr. 
Clinton  was  a  very  young  major-general,  and  very  little  known  as  such,  and 
that  calling  him  into  active  service  would  be  contrary  to  etiquette,  and  would 
probably  offend  older  militia  generals,  whom  he  did  not  think  it  right  or 
prudent  to  employ ;  some  of  whom  he  named  to  me. 

"  This  application  formed  the  subject  of  more  than  one  conversation  between 
Governor  Tompkins  and  myself;  and  I  endeavoured  to  convince  him  that  the 
situation  of  Mr.  Clinton  as  mayor,  and  the  confidence  placed  in  him  by  the 
citizens  of  New-York,  ought  to  have  much  greater  weight  than  any  military 

23 


198 


APPENDIX. 


etiquette,  or  at  least  in  the  selection  of  an  officer  for  the  protection  of  that 
city,  which  then  seemed  to  be  very  seriously  threatened.  Governor  Tompkins 
did  not  refuse  to  comply  with  Mr.  Clinton's  application  ;  but  he  seemed  to 
hesitate  so  long  and  so  much,  that  I  considered  it  as  virtually  refused.  After 
some  time,  however,  and  when  affairs  appeared  to  have  grown  more  gloomy, 
his  excellency,  of  his  own  accord,  desired  me  to  inform  the  mayor,  that  if  the 
enemy  landed  in  the  vicinity  of  New-York,  he  should  be  employed  as  he  solicited, 
and  to  prepare  himself  accordingly.  This  message  I  immediately  communicated 
to  Mr.  Clinton,  who  observed  that  if  his  wishes  were  to  be  gratified,  it  certainly 
would  be  desirable  that  he  should  be  appointed  some  time  before  the  enemy's 
landing,  so  as  that  he  might  make  the  necessary  previous  arrangements  ;  but 
he  nevertheless  desired  me  to  inform  the  Governor,  that  he  should  be  prepared, 
and  hold  himself  in  readiness  at  amoment's  notice,  whenever  called  on.  That 
message  I  accordingly  delivered  to  Governor  Tompkins,  and  have  never  since 
heard  any  thing  on  the  subject  from  either  of  those  gentlemen. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  Sir,  with  much  respect, 
"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  THOMAS  ADDIS  EMMET." 


Note. — p.  68. 

Upon  the  termination  of  Governor  Clinton's  administration  under  the  old 
constitution,  he  resolved  to  withdraw  from  the  station  he  had  held,  and  to 
return  once  more  to  the  walks  of  private  life.  Upon  that  occasion  a  public 
meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Albany  was  called  to  express  their  sentiments  rela- 
tive to  his  administration,  and  to  solicit  him  to  permit  them  again  to  nominate 
him  as  a  candidate  for  the  office  of  Governor.  The  following  are  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  meeting  so  called. 

At  a  highly  respectable  meeting  of  the  members  of  both  branches  of  the 
legislature  and  of  the  citizens  of  Albany,  held  on  the  16th  inst.  at  Skinner's 
Mansion  House,  William  James,  Esq.  of  the  city  of  Albany,  was  called  to  the 


APPENDIX. 


1!)!) 


chair,  and  Thomas  H.  Campbell,  Esq.  of  the  house  of  assembly,  was  appointed 
secretary. 

The  meeting  was  addressed  by  General  Gansevoort,  of  Albany,  who  took  a 
rapid  and  comprehensive  view  of  the  administration  of  Governor  Clinton, 
pointing  out  its  sound  republican  principles,  and  its  strong  claims  to  public 
confidence.  He  dwelt  for  some  time  on  the  prominent  features  in  the  system 
of  public  policy,  which  had  been  pursued  by  our  state  government  for  the  last 
few  years,  and  concluded  by  moving  that  a  committee  be  appointed  to  wait  on 
his  excellency  De  Witt  Clinton,  to  ascertain  whether  he  will  accept  a  nomi- 
nation for  the  office  which  he  now  holds. 

He  was  followed  by  C.  G.  Haines,  Esq.  of  New-York.  Mr.  Haines  recapitu- 
lated the  grand  purposes  which  had  been  effected,  and  the  great  interests 
which  had  been  fostered,  by  the  state  administration  for  the  last  five  years. 
He  said  that  Mr.  Clinton's  administration  had  been  one,  whose  general 
measures  had  never  been  assailed  amid  all  the  conflicts  of  party  hostility. 
He  had  supported  it  with  ardour  and  zeal,  and  his  confidence  in  the  integrity 
and  abilities  of  the  chief  magistrate  was  undiminished.  In  saying  this,  he 
believed  that  he  uttered  the  feelings  and  opinions  of  those  throughout  the 
state  with  whom  he  had  acted.  If  Governor  Clinton  should  again  consent  to 
receive  the  suffrages  of  the  people,  he  would  find  the  friends  of  his  adminis- 
tration ready  to  gather  round  its  standard  with  firmness,  with  resolution,  and 
consistency.  He  concluded  with  seconding  the  motion  of  General  Gansevoort. 
The  remarks  of  the  speakers  were  received  with  warm  and  decided  applause. 

On  motion  of  General  Gansevoort, — Resolved,  That  the  chairman  and 
secretary  address  a  letter  to  his  Excellency  the  Governor,  which  was  as 
follows : 
Sir, 

The  election  of  chief  magistrate  will  always  be  interesting  to  a  free 
people,  and  the  period  is  arrived  at  which  they  will  designate  a  suitable  cha- 
racter for  that  important  office. 

Accounts  from  all  parts  of  the  state  indicate  the  increasing  desire  of  the 
electors  for  the  nomination  of  the  man  whose  administration,  for  the  last  five 
years,  had  advanced  the  prosperity,  and  exalted  the  character  of  the  state ; 


200 


APPENDIX. 


and  they  will  expect  certain  information  on  the  subject,  on  the  return  of  the 
members  to  their  respective  counties,  which  will  be  in  a  few  days. 

Influenced  by  these  considerations,  and  participating  in  the  wishes  and 
feelings  of  the  people,  a  number  of  members  of  the  legislature,  and  of  respec- 
table citizens,  are  this  evening  convened  for  the  purpose  of  making  prepara- 
tory arrangements  for  a  general  meeting.  Having  organised  themselves,  and 
interchanged  opinions  and  information,  they  have  no  doubt  as  to  the  person 
whose  nomination  would  accord  with  the  free  choice  of  the  electors. 

They  hav  e  therefore  directed  the  chairman  to  inquire  if  you  will  consent  to 
be  a  candidate  for  the  office  of  Governor  at  the  ensuing  election,  and  ap- 
pointed a  committee  to  wait  on  your  Excellency  for  an  answer. 

The  duty,  sir,  with  which  I  am  honoured  on  this  occasion,  affords  me  the 
opportunity  of  conveying  to  you' the  sentiments  of  the  meeting  respecting 
yourself,  by  expressing  personally  my  very  great  respect  for  your  public  and 
private  character. 

I  am,  Sir,  most  respectfully,  yours,  &c. 

WILLIAM  JAMES,  Chairman. 
T.  B.  CAMPBELL,  Secretary. 

His  Excellency  De  Witt  Clinton. 

Resolved,  That  Abraham  Hasbrouck,  David  C.  Judson,  Philip  S.  Parker, 
Robert  Shoemaker,  and  Israel  Smith,  be  a  committee  to  present  the  same 
to  his  Excellency  the  Governor. 

The  committee  appointed  to  wait  on  his  Excellency  the  Governor,  reported 
his  answer  as  follows  : 

Albany,  April  16th,  1822. 

Gentlemen  : 

Having  long  since  determined  to  retire  from  the  executive  chair,  on 
the  termination  of  my  present  term,  I  have  been  anxious  to  select  the  most 
suitable  time  and  mode,  of  announcing  this  intention  to  the  public ;  and  I 
feel  greatly  obliged  to  you  for  this  application,  which  proceeding  from  so 


APPENDIX. 


201 


respectable  a  source,  removes  at  once,  and  in  the  most  gratifying  manner,  all 
difficulties  on  this  subject. 

In  forming  this  determination,  I  have  not  been  insensible  to  the  claims 
which  every  community  has  upon  the  services  of  its  members.  But,  from  a 
full  persuasion,  that  a  practical  recognition  of  the  doctrine  of  official  rotation 
in  a  case  so  prominent,  is  of  more  importance  in  its  propitious  influence  on 
the  purity  of  republican  gov  ernment,  than  any  benefits  which  can  possibly  arise 
from  my  continuance  in  office,  I  am  happy  to  realize  on  this  occasion,  a  cor- 
respondence between  my  private  inclinations  and  my  duties  to  the  state. 

I  shall  retire  with  feelings  of  good  will  for  all  my  fellow-citizens — with  the 
consciousness  of  having,  with  good  intentions  and  without  shrinking  from  any 
responsibility,  endeavoured  to  the  full  extent  of  my  faculties,  to  promote  the 
best  interests  of  the  community — and  with  fervent  prayers  to  the  Supreme 
Dispenser  of  all  good,  that  this  state  may,  under  abler  auspices,  and  by  the 
judicious  improvement  of  her  natural  advantages,  and  the  patriotic  cultivation 
of  her  essential  interests,  attain  fullness  of  prosperity.  And  be  assured,  gen- 
tlemen, that  I  shall  never  cease  to  cherish  sentiments  of  gratitude  for  your 
friendship  and  of  respect  for  your  virtues. 

DE  WITT  CLINTON. 

To  the  Citizens  comprising  the  meeting  of  } 
which  Wm.  James,  Esq.  is  Chairman  > 
and  T.  B.  Campbell  Esq.  Secretary.  } 

Whereupon  Resolved,  That  Ephraim  Hart,  Charles  Kellogg,  Peter  Ganse- 
voort,  E.  C.  Marsh,  George  W.  Stanton,  Elijah  Miles,  Samuel  Dill,  Joseph  T. 
Rice,  James  M'Intyre,  and  Jacob  J.  Hasbrouck,  be  a  committee  to  reply  to  the 
answer  of  his  excellency  the  governor. 

At  an  adjourned  meeting  at  the  Capitol,  on  the  ensuing  day,  the  committee 
reported  the  following  reply  to  the  governor. 

To  his  Excellency  De  Witt  Clinton. 

Sir, 

We  receive  your  letter,  declining  the  suffrages  of  your  fellow-citizens 
as  a  candidate  for  the  chief  magistracy,  with  that  regret  which  is  inspired  by 


202 


APPENDIX. 


a  conviction  that  by  your  retirement,  the  state  of  New- York  will  sustain  a  great 
public  loss. 

Your  administration  requires  no  review  here.  It  stands  before  the  world, 
and  its  purity  will  meet  the  eyes  of  after  ages.  Boldness  of  conception, 
grandeur  of  design,  and  vigour  of  execution,  have  marked  its  policy.  It  will 
form  a  distinct  and  illustrious  era  in  the  history  of  the  state  of  New-York,  on 
which  posterity  will  delight  to  dwell. 

Parties  may  change,  and  the  stations  of  individuals  may  change  with  them  ; 
but  the  chief  magistrate  who  calls  forth  the  internal  resources  and  the  latent 
energies  of  a  slate — who  promotes  the  interests  of  agriculture  and  manufac- 
tures—who fosters  seminaries  of  learning,  the  interests  of  science  and  litera- 
ture, and  schools  for  elementary  instruction — who  introduces  economy  into 
all  the  departments  of  government,  and  diffuses  a  spirit  of  enterprise  and 
emulation  over  the  land — who  facilitates  the  adoption  of  sound  and  whole- 
some laws,  and  diminishes  the  burdens  of  the  people  ;  and  lastly,  a  chief 
magistrate,  who  hazards  his  rank  as  a  statesman  and  his  hold  on  public  con- 
fidence, by  bringing  forward  and  sustaining  with  unerring  boldness  and  confi- 
dence the  grandest  improvement  in  internal  navigation  that  the  world  has 
ever  beheld,  will  ever  be  remembered  with  pride  and  gratitude,  by  that  en- 
lightened and  reflecting  people,  on  wnom  his  public  labours  have  conferred 
the  most  lasting  blessings. 

We  again  repeat,  that  we  consider  your  retirement  from  the  chief  magis- 
tracy as  a  public  loss.  We  cannot  but  feel  the  truth  of  this  assertion,  when 
we  call  to  mind  your  long  and  ardent  zeal  for  the  public  good,  and  the  great 
and  salutary  purposes  which  you  have  effected.  But,  sir,  we  cannot  but  con- 
gratulate ourselves  that  you  have  guided  the  destinies  of  the  state  until  your 
system  of  general  policy  is  well  established — until  you  have  presented  exam- 
ples which  will  command  imitation — until  the  blessings  of  your  measures  are 
acknowledged — and,  more  than  all,  until  the  canals  which  are  to  connect  the 
northern  and  western  lakes  with  the  Atlantic  ocean,  are  nearly  completed. 
There  was  a  day  when  your  surrender  of  power  and  trust  would  have  jeopar- 
dized the  deepest  interests  of  the  commonwealth,  and  proved  a  lasting 
calamity. 


APPENDIX. 


203 


Our  confidence  in  your  integrity  as  a  politician,  our  high  estimation  of  your 
capacity  as  a  statesman,  and  our  deep  sense  of  your  private  virtues,  cannot  be 
impaired  or  shaken.  Twenty-five  years  of  service  in  the  most  elevated  and 
responsible  stations  in  the  gift  of  the  state,  afford  a  test  of  worth  and  talents 
from  which  candour  and  reason  will  not  appeal;  and  a  private  life  whose  rec- 
titude and  purity  even  calumny  in  her  wide  and  licentious  ranges  of  hostility 
has  never  dared  to  assail,  prefers  a  claim  that  no  unprejudiced  man  can 
resist. 

We  acknowledge  the  soundness  of  the  principle,  that  rotation  in  office  is 
necessary  and  expedient  in  a  republican  government;  and  although  its  appli- 
cation may  at  times  deprive  the  public  of  those  services  that  tend  to  exalt 
the  fortunes  and  promote  the  prosperity  of  a  people,  yet  it  will  correct  this 
evil  by  calling  back  again  to  the  paths  of  public  trust  the  distinguished  patriots 
whom  it  occasionally  excludes  from  power.  Although  you  leave  the  first  office 
in  the  gift  of  the  people,  and  in  a  measure  assume  the  relations  of  a  private 
citizen,  we  trust  that  your  time  and  your  talents  will  still  be  found  actively 
contributing  to  the  interests  and  glory  of  your  native  state,  and  that  in  the 
vigour  of  life  and  in  the  season  of  usefulness,  you  will  at  all  times  and  in 
every  capacity,  still  remember  the  obligations  of  patriotism  and  the  claims  of 
posterity. 

EPHRAIM  HART,  ELIJAH  MILES, 

CHARLES  KELLOGG,  SAMUEL  DILL, 

PETER  GANSEVOORT,  JOSEPH  T.  RICE, 

E.  C.  MARSH,  JAMES  M'INTYRE, 

G.  VV.  STANTON,  JACOB  J.  HASBROUCK. 

Albany,  April  1822. 


Upon  Mr.  Clinton's  retirement  from  his  executive  labours,  it  appears  he  felt 
it  to  be  his  duty  to  address  the  distinguished  men  composing  the  Judiciary 
of  this  state,  and  to  express  to  them  his  deep  sense  of  the  important  services 
they  had  rendered,  and  his  high  respect  for  the  learning  and  talents  they  had 
displayed  in  the  performance  of  their  judicial  functions.  Accordingly  on 
the  last  day  of  the  year  IS'2'2,  he  addressed  a  letter  to  James  Kent,  the  chan- 


204 


APPENDIX. 


cellor  of  the  state,  to  Ambrose  Spencer,  the  chief  justice,  and  to  Jonas 
Piatt,  the  judge  of  the  superior  court  of  the  state  of  New- York.  Two  of 
those  letters  with  the  subjoined  replies,  have  been  communicated  to  me  by  a 
friend,  who  had  been  permitted  by  the  kindness  of  Governor  Clinton  to  take 
copies  of  the  same.  In  making  me  the  communication,  the  writer  observes, 
"as  the  occasion  is  as  memorable  as  the  persons  concerned  hold  rank  in  the 
nation,  I  present  them  to  you  to  be  placed  upon  record,  that  they  may  never 
be  forgotten,  and  may  be  resorted  to  in  times  more  propitious  to  the  solid 
glory  and  true  happiness  of  the  people." 


"Albany,  December  31st,  1822. 

"  Sir, 

"  Having  always  appreciated  the  importance  of  the  judicial  department, 
as  a  barrier  against  oppression,  and  a  bulwark  of  free  governments,  it  has 
afforded  me  uncommon  satisfaction  to  witness  the  distinguished  talents,  the 
profound  learning,  and  the  inflexible  integrity  with  which  justice  has  been 
dispensed  in  our  high  tribunals. 

"  Amongst  the  jurists  of  this  country,  who  will  command  the  respect  of 
future  times,  as  well  as  of  the  present,  whose  opinions  will  be  quoted,  and 
whose  erudition,  abilities,  and  virtues  will  be  revered,  when  the  agitators, 
and  agitations  of  the  day  are  swept  into  oblivion,  I  hesitate  not  to  place  you 
in  the  first  rank.  And  I  flatter  myself  that  this  manifestation  of  respect,  and 
this  tribute  of  justice,  rendered  with  the  utmost  sincerity  on  the  last  day,  and 
among  the  last  acts  of  my  administration,  will  be  received  in  the  same  spirit 
in  which  they  are  offered. 

"DE  WITT  CLINTON." 

"  The  Hon.  James  Kent, 
Chancellor  of  the  State  of  New-York." 


APPENDIX. 


205 


"Albany,  Dec. 'J  t,  1822. 

"  Sir, 

"  I  do  myself  the  honour  to  acknowledge  the  favour  of  your  Excel- 
lency's very  obliging  and  indulgent  note  of  this  morning. 

"  To  receive  the  approbation  of  so  competent  a  judge,  and  so  distinguished 
a  patron  of  merit,  has  always  been  an  object  of  my  highest  ambition.  It  is 
the  best  and  most  honourable  reward  for  the  fidelity  with  which  I  have 
endeavoured  to  discharge  the  trust  committed  to  me  by  the  government  of  my 
country. 

"  The  consolation  you  have  afforded  me  is,  however,  chastened  by  the  re- 
flection, lhat  you  are  now  to  retire  from  the  station  which  you  have  filled  with 
dignity  and  eminent  utility  ;  and  permit  me  to  assure  your  excellency  that  you 
carry  with  you  into  private  life,  the  gratitude  and  admiration  of  the  wise  and 
impartial  among  all  classes  of  your  fellow-citizens.  By  the  talents,  energy, 
and  public  spirit  which  have  illustrated  and  adorned  your  administration,  you 
have  elevated  the  state  to  the  first  rank  among  the  great  community  of  this  nation, 
in  credit  and  character,  as  well  as  by  the  display  of  its  power  and  resources. 

"  The  personal  attentions  and  disinterested  kindness  which  I  have  uniformly 
received  from  you,  during  your  official  life,  will  always  be  held  by  me  in  grate- 
ful remembrance. 

"  I  am,  with  the  highest  respect, 

"  Your  Excellency's  most  obedient  servant, 

"  JAMES  KENT." 

"  His  Excellency  Gov.  Clinton." 


"Albany,  Dec.  31,  1822. 

"  Sir, 

"  I  cannot,  in  justice  to  my  feelings,  retire  from  the  office  of  governor 
of  this  state,  without  bearing  witness  to  the  talents  and  purity  that  you  have 
uniformly  evinced  in  the  important  judicial  office  which  you  occupy. 

"The  administration  of  justice  in  our  higher  tribunals  has  demonstrated  so 
much  ability,  such  indefatigable  industry,  and  such  uncommon  research,  that 

24 


206 


APPENDIX. 


their  decisions  are  referred  to  in  our  sister  states  as  luminous  expositions  and 
as  standard  authorities. 

"  With  my  best  wishes  for  the  continuance  of  your  official  usefulness,  and 
your  private  happiness, 

"  I  am,  very  respectfully, 

"  Your  most  obedient  servant, 

"  DE  WITT  CLINTON." 

"  Hon.  Jonas  Platt, 
One  of  the  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court." 


"  Whitestown,  Jan.  3, 1823. 

"  Sir, 

"  With  unfeigned  gratitude  and  respect  I  received  your  kind  letter 
of  the  31st  December. 

"  To  have  obtained  the  sanction  of  your  approbation  for  my  judicial  cha- 
racter and  public  services,  would,  at  any  time,  be  appreciated  by  me  as  a  high 
reward  ;  and  I  assure  you,  Sir,  that  the  time  and  the  occasion  which  you  have 
chosen  to  express  it,  have  added  much  to  the  interest  and  sensibility  with 
which  it  has  been  impressed  upon  my  heart.  '  Luudari  a  laudato  uiro,"1  is  the 
highest  object  of  my  ambition. 

"  Permit  me,  sir,  to  congratulate  you  on  your  dignified  retirement  from  the 
office  of  chief  magistrate  of  this  state.  Your  wise,  virtuous,  and  enlightened 
administration  has  exalted  the  character  of  the  state  ;  and  in  laying  the  foun- 
dation of  the  public  prosperity,  you  have  erected  a  monument  to  your  own 
fame,  as  imperishable  as  the  continent  of  America. 

"  With  an  anxious  hope  that  our  country  may  continue  to  enjoy  the  fruits 
of  your  high  endowments,  and  my  cordial  wishes  for  your  private  happiness, 

"  I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

«'  JONAS  PLATT." 

"  Governor  Clinton." 


APPENDIX. 


207 


Note. — p.  73. 

The  following  anecdote,  taken  from  the  spirited  eulogium  of  Judge  Conk- 
ling,  and  the  subjoined  letters,  afford  abundant  evidence  of  the  value  attached 
to  the  views  of  Mr.  Clinton,  and  the  confidence  with  which  the  public  regarded 
his  opinions,  at  the  same  time  that  they  display  the  zeal,  ability,  and  disinter- 
estedness of  his  services. 

"Under  his  auspices  a  new  and  most  important  era  has  arisen  in  the  history 
of  our  country  ;  and  so  inseparably  connected  has  his  name  become  with  the 
introduction  into  the  United  States  of  canals  upon  a  grand  scale,  that  he  has 
for  years  been  habitually  regarded,  by  the  whole  American  people,  as  the 
parent  and  great  patron  of  the  system.  That  such  is  the  light  in  which  he 
has  been  viewed,  the  proofs  are  too  numerous  and  evident  to  require  enume- 
ration. There  is  one,  however,  which  I  cannot  forbear  to  notice,  especially 
as  it  will  afford  me  the  opportunity  to  relate  an  incident,  of  which  I  happened 
myself  to  be  a  witness,  and  which,  independently  of  the  striking  illustration  it 
affords  of  the  high  estimation  in  which  he  was  held,  possesses,  if  I  mistake 
not,  sufficient  of  moral  grandeur  to  render  it  of  itself  not  altogether  uninter- 
esting. The  proof  to  which  I  refer  is  the  formal  invitation  which  he  received 
from  the  state  of  Ohio,  to  be  present  and  assist  at  the  imposing  ceremoni$ 
which  was  to  mark  the  commencement  of  her  magnificent  canal,  and  the 
distinguished  honours  which  were  paid  him  during  his  visit.  This  tribute,  in 
itself  so  high  and  unequivocal,  derived  additional  value  from  one  of  the 
motives  by  which  it  was  understood  to  have  been  dictated.  The  decision  of 
the  commissioners  with  respect  to  the  northern  termination  of  the  canal,  had 
excited  a  spirit  of  dissatisfaction,  arising  from  disappointed  hopes,  which, 
joined  with  the  original  opposition  to  the  measure,  threatened  seriously  to 
embarrass  and  impede,  if  not,  for  a  time  at  least,  to  interrupt  the  progress  of 
the  work.  Under  these  circumstances  it  was  hoped,  that  the  presence  of  Mr. 
Clinton  would  serve  to  inspire  a  loftier  sentiment  of  patriotism  and  self-denial, 
and  thus,  in  some  measure,  to  allay  the  spirit  of  discontent.  This  hope  rested, 
it  is  presumed,  not  upon  the  expectation  of  any  direct  efforts  from  him  to 


208 


APPENDIX. 


produce  reconciliation,  but  merely  upon  the  supposed  moral  influence  of  his 
high  character.  That  this  supposition  was  founded  in  no  mistaken  view  of 
the  character  and  feelings  of  the  people  of  Ohio,  may  be  inferred  from  the 
incident  which  I  will  now  relate. 

"The  ceremonies  to  which  I  have  alluded  took  place,  it  will  be  recollected, 
upon  the  anniversary  of  our  independence.  The  place  selected  for  their  per- 
formance was  a  small  clearing,  in  the  midst  of  a  gigantic  forest.  Upon  this 
spot  a  vast  multitude  had  assembled,  among  whom  were  a  large  proportion 
of  the  first  citizens  of  the  state.  In  front  of  a  small  stage,  destined  for  the 
oratOr  of  the  day,  and  on  which  Mr.  Clinton,  together  with  the  Governor  of 
Ohio,  and  other  distinguished  individuals  were  also  seated,  rude  seats  had 
been  constructed  sufficiently  extensive  to  accommodate  several  hundred 
persons.  These  were  all  filled  with  silent  and  attentive  auditors.  At  the 
close  of  an  animated  oration  (to  which  I  am  unwilling,  even  thus  incidentally 
to  allude  without  bearing  testimony  to  its  distinguished  merits)  Mr.  Clinton 
rose,  in  compliance  with  what  he  understood  to  be  the  prevailing  wish  and 
expectation,  to  address  the  assembled  multitude.  And  when  he  advanced  to 
the  edge  of  the  platform  for  that  purpose,  the  entire  mass  of  men  who  occupied 
the  benches  which  I  have  described,  by  one  simultaneous  movement,  which 
could  only  have  been  prompted  by  one  common  absorbing  emotion  of 
fl^pect,  rose  from  their  seats !  I  may  perhaps  overrate  this  tribute — but  to 
me  it  appears  now  as  it  then  appeared,  a  momentary  gleam,  emanating  from 
"  the  divinity  that  stirs  within  us" — a  bright  but  transient  vision,  at  once 
beautiful  and  sublime,  of  all  that  is  most  pure  and  exalted  in  man;  the  silent, 
unpremeditated,  spontaneous  homage  of  the  heart  to  virtue.  Of  its  effects 
upon  Mr.  Clinton,  it  is  but  just  to  say,  that  he  was  sensibly  touched  by  it. 
For  a  few  moments  he  was  unable  to  command  his  feelings,  and  his  voice 
faltered  as  he  spoke.  But  his  mind  soon  recovered  its  wonted  equilibrium, 
and  he  proceeded  to  speak  in  a  manner  worthy  of  himself.  In  the  course  of 
his  brief  address,  adverting  to  the  short  period  which  had  elapsed  since  the 
admission  of  Ohio  into  the  confederacy,  as  an  independent  state,  and  her 
unexampled  progress  in  population,  wealth  and  power,  he  took  occasion,  I 
remember,  with  great  felicity  of  expression,  to  compare  her  to  a  young  eagle, 


APPENDIX. 


209 


which,  though  just  escaped  from  its  eyrie,  had  already  soared  aloft  and  fixed 
its  gaze  upon  the  sun.  His  address  was  followed  by  the  most  enthusiastic 
acclamations. 


"  To  George  P.  M'Cidloch,  Charles  Kinsey  of  Essex,  and  Thomas  Capner, 
Esqrs.  Commissioners  of  the  state  of  New-Jersey,  in  relation  to  a  canal 
from  the  Delaware  to  the  Passaic. 

"  Gentlemen, — The  canal  commissioners  of  the  state  of  New-York  having 
duly  considered  the  request  of  the  legislature  of  that  state,  in  relation  to  the 
contemplated  canal  between  the  Delaware  and  Passaic  rivers, determined  that 
it  would  be  most  advisable  and  beneficial,  and  at  the  same  time  correspond 
with  the  sense  of  the  legislature,  to  direct  their  chief  engineer  to  review  the 
operations  of  the  engineer  of  New-Jersey,  (after  his  levels  were  taken  and  his 
surveys  completed)  to  explore  the  route  of  the  canal  and  the  localities  of  the 
country,  and  to  furnish  the  best  conclusions  of  his  judgment  and  all  the 
resources  of  his  experience  in  aid  of  the  undertaking.  Under  these  impres- 
sions, Judge  Wright,  who  has  been  employed  on  the  Erie  canal  as  a  chief 
engineer,  from  its  first  inception  to  its  present  state,  has  lately  complied  with 
the  direction  of  the  canal  board  in  that  respect :  and  having,  as  president  of 
that  board,  had  opportunities  of  becoming  acquainted  with  operations  of  this 
nature,  1  considered  it  my  duty  to  comply  with  an  invitation  to  attend  to 
this  subject  at  the  same  time.  The  interests  of  the  states  are  so  closely  con- 
nected, that  the  improvement  of  one  state  has  a  beneficial  influence  on  the 
prosperity  of  all.  And  I  am  persuaded,  that  the  internal  trade  of  a  country 
is  the  great  lever  of  its  prosperity,  because  it  supplies  the  products  of  agri- 
culture and  manufactures  with  a  certain  market,  and  furnishes  the  elements, 
and  animates  the  enterprises  of  external  commerce,  as  well  as  of  the  great 
departments  of  productive  industry  ;  and  it  is  very  evident  that  internal  trade 
cannot  flourish  without  easy  and  cheap  communication.  To  a  considerable 
portion  of  Pennsylvania,  this  canal  will  furnish  a  choice  of  markets,  and  par- 
ticularly an  advantageous  sale  of  the  coal  with  which  it  abounds.  New-York 
will  be  accommodated  with  this  invaluable  mineral,  and  in  many  other 


210 


APPENDIX. 


respects  ;  and  New- Jersey  must  feel  the  propitious  influence  of  the  contem- 
plated measure,  in  all  the  sources  of  public  prosperity. 

"  Under  the  government  of  these  impressive  considerations,  and  in  company 
with  the  chief  engineer  of  New-York,  and  the  senior  commissioner  and  engi- 
neer of  New-Jersey,  I  have  visited  and  reviewed  the  whole  route  of  the  pro- 
jected canal ;  and  I  shall  now  communicate  to  your  respectable  board  my 
views  on  this  interesting  subject,  which  shall,  for  the  sake  of  perspicuity,  be 
condensed  under  four  distinct  heads. 

1.  The  physical  practicability  of  the  canal. 

2.  The  financial  practicability. 

3.  The  inducements  to  the  measure. 

4.  The  organ  or  agent  of  its  accomplishment. 

"And  1st.  As  to  physical  practicability. — Whenever  water  can  be  obtained 
in  sufficient  quantity  on  the  summit  level  of  a  canal,  there  is  no  invincible 
physical  impediment  to  its  execution.  Give  an  engineer  plenty  of  water,  and 
he  can  make  any  canal.  It  then  becomes  a  question  of  expense  not  of  feasi- 
bility. In  the  present  case,  there  is  at  least  three  times  as  much  water  on  the 
summit  level  as  will  be  requisite.  Hopatkung  Lake  itself  furnishes  a  super- 
abundance, and  if  necessary,  a  lake  of  considerable  dimensions,  called  Green 
Pond,  can  be  introduced  as  an  auxiliary.  This  whole  region  is  uncommonly 
well  watered,  and  without  any  interference  with  hydraulic  establishments, 
supplies  can  be  obtained  along  the  whole  course  of  the  canal.  The  great 
height  of  the  summit  level  may  be  considered  an  objection  against  the  under- 
taking, but  altitude  is  like  distance,  it  creates  no  insurmountable  obstacle. 
It  only  augments  the  expense.  Through  the  instrumentality  of  locks  this 
elevation  may  be  surmounted;  but  from  considerations  of  economy, and  with 
a  view  to  the  rapid  passage  of  boats,  it  has  been  proposed  to  substitute 
inclined  planes  to  a  certain  extent;  and  this  measure  cannot  fail  of  success. 
To  remove,  however,  all  doubts  with  respect  to  its  efficacy,  preliminary  experi- 
ments can  be  instituted. 

"On  questions  of  this  nature,  we  must  rely  on  the  counsels  of  experience 
and  science,  and  the  opinions  of  professional  men.  Mr.  Beach,  the  engineer 
of  New- Jersey,  has  been  employed  as  an  engineer  on  the  Erie  canal,  and  he 


APPENDIX. 


211 


is  intelligent,  experienced,  and  deserving  of  high  confidence.  Judge  Wright 
is  a  principal  engineer  on  the  Erie  canal,  and  there  is  no  man  in  this  country 
whose  opinion  is  entitled  to  more  respect.  In  conducting  that  great  work 
to  its  present  prosperous  condition,  his  agency  has  been  of  primary  import- 
ance ;  and  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying,  that  in  all  points  relative  to  the 
construction  of  canals,  I  would  place  implicit  confidence  in  his  judgment. 
1  have  read  the  official  reports  of  these  gentlemen,  which  are  decidedly 
friendly  to  the  object,  and  which  meet  my  approbation  ;  and  when  we  com- 
bine with  this  aspect  of  the  subject,  the  corroborating  opinions  of  General 
Swift,  formerly  the  chief  of  the  corps  of  engineers  of  the  United  States,  of 
General  Bernard  and  Colonel  Totten,  eminent  members  of  that  institution, 
and  of  Professor  Renwick,  of  Columbia  College,  gentlemen  distinguished  for 
profound  science,  for  accurate  judgment,  and  for  extensive  information, 
there  can  be  no  room  for  doubt.  The  practicability  of  the  work  is  as 
certain  as  any  future  event  can  possibly  be,  whose  accomplishment  is  not 
yet  realized. 

"  Secondly,  As  to  financial  practicability. — Without  pretending  to  a  mi- 
nute acquaintance  with  the  financial  resources  of  New- Jersey,  I  am  fully  of 
opinion  that  this  measure  may  be  carried  into  effect,  without  imposing  any 
burdens  on  the  people,  and  without  encountering  any  serious  difficulties. 

"  The  canal  will  be  seventy-five  miles  long.  It  is  to  be  in  general  thirty- 
two  feet  wide  at  the  top,  sixteen  at  the  bottom,  and  four  feet  deep.  The  whole 
expense  will  not  much  exceed  800,000  dollars,  and  it  can  be  accomplished 
with  ease  in  three  years. 

"  The  money  can  be  borrowed  on  the  credit  of  the  state,  at  six  per  cent. 
The  annual  interest  on  the  whole  sum  will  be  but  18,000  dollars.  For  the 
first  year  200,000  dollars  will  be  required,  and  for  each  of  the  two  remaining 
years,  300,000  dollars.    There  will  then  be  essential, 

In  order  to  pay  the  first  year's  interest,  -  -  -  $12,000 
For  the  interest  of  that  and  the  second  year,  -  -  30,000 
For  the  interest  on  the  whole  sum  borrowed,        -       -  48,000 


Total, 


$90,000 


212 


APPENDIX. 


"  After  providing  for  the  payment  of  this  sum,  the  income  of  the  canal  will 
be  fully  adequate  to  defray  the  interest  afterwards  accruing,  and  to  extinguish 
with  rapidity  the  principal. 

"  On  looking  with  an  eye  of  scrutiny  to  the  revenue  which  will  arise,  in 
time,  from  this  navigable  communication,  it  is  not  extravagant  to  state  it  at 
250,000  dollars  annually:  but  making  allowance  for  the  repairs  which  will  be 
from  time  to  time  required,  and  for  the  expenses  of  superintendence  and 
collection,  I  do  not  scruple  to  set  down  the  nett  annual  income  at  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  This  will  not  only  pay  the  interest,  but  in  a  few 
years  the  whole  debt. 

"  I  should  suppose  that  it  would  require  no  great  financial  skill  to  de- 
vise the  ways  and  means  of  paying  ninety  thousand  dollars  in  three  years, 
without  resorting  to  taxation.  The  avails  of  lotteries  and  banks  might 
constitute  important  items,  and  auxiliary  expedients  may  be  successfully 
adopted. 

"  Thirdly, — The  inducements  to  the  measure. — On  this  point  there  can  be  no 
diversity  of  opinion.  There  is  every  motive  for  adopting  the  project  which 
ought  to  operate  on  an  enlightened  legislator  and  a  devoted  friend  of  his 
country. 

"  1.  It  will  make  New-Jersey  the  greatest  manufacturing  country  in  Ame- 
rica. The  mountains  near  the  route  of  the  canal  are  inexhaustible  masses 
of  valuable  iron  ore  in  all  its  forms  and  varieties.  There  are  besides  prolific 
stores  of  copper,  zinc,  manganese,  copperas,  plumbago,  serpentine,  marble, 
and  lime.  All  these  will  be  brought  into  active  and  abundant  operation  by 
this  canal. 

"The  agency  of  fire  is  essential  to  very  extensive  manufacturing  operations, 
and  water-power  is  a  most  eligible  auxiliary.  In  the  latter  respect  this  part  of 
New-Jersey  is  unrivalled.  But  her  forests  are  rapidly  wasting  away,  and  many 
of  her  iron  works  are  already  prostrated  for  the  want  of  fuel.  The  anthracite 
or  glance  coal  of  Pennsylvania  (which  perhaps  contains  more  of  the  matter 
of  ignition  than  any  other  substance,)  can  be  obtained  by  the  canal  to  any 
extent,  and  in  the  most  economical  manner.  New-Jersey  will  be  thus  en- 
abled to  manufacture  iron  in  such  quantities  as  to  supersede  the  necessity  of 


APPENDIX. 


2 1 3 


foreign  importation,  and  upwards  of  three  millions  of  dollars  annually  will 
thereby  be  saved  to  the  United  States.  In  our  tour  through  New-Jersey,  we  saw 
foreign  iron  worked  by  foreign  coal  :  and  as  if  this  sight  were  not  sufficiently 
humiliating,  we  could  see  at  the  same  time  mountains  replenished  with  the 
richest  ore,  and  a  day's  journey  would  have  brought  us  to  the  inexhaustible 
coal  mines  of  Pennsylvania. 

"  There  are  many  flourishing  institutions  at  Paterson  and  other  places, 
where  cotton,  flax,  wool,  and  hemp,  are  manufactured  into  useful  fabrics.  As 
these  establishments  become  more  extended,  the  power  of  steam  will  be  de- 
manded. Coal  will  therefore  be  indispensable,  and  it  is  now  much  wanted, 
as  well  as  iron  and  steel,  for  the  purpose  of  making  and  repairing  the  machi- 
nery of  those  important  establishments. 

"2.  It  will  essentially  ameliorate  the  agriculture  of  the  country,  by  supply- 
ing the  farmer  with  lime,  gypsum,  and  other  valuable  manures,  by  facilitating 
and  cheapening  the  transportation  of  his  commodities,  by  furnishing  him  at 
reduced  prices  with  necessaries  and  accommodations,  and  by  establishing  a 
market  at  every  manufactory,  and  opening  a  passage  by  water  to  the  two 
great  cities  of  Philadelphia  and  New-York,  and  to  Paterson,  Newark,  Eliza- 
beth-town, Amboy,  Brunswick,  Easton,  Trenton,  and  the  villages  lower 
down  on  the  Delaware.  The  mountain  lands  which  are  now  exclusively 
appropriated  for  providing  fuel  for  the  iron  manufactories,  can  then  be  ap- 
plied to  agricultural  purposes,  and  the  population  of  the  state  will  be  greatly 
augmented. 

"  3.  The  population  and  opulence  of  the  state  will  not  only  be  greatly  in- 
creased from  these  causes,  but  from  the  natural  and  necessary  operation  of  a 
most  extensive  and  prosperous  inland  trade,  which  is  the  invariable  offspring 
of  the  flourishing  state  of  productive  industry  and  easy  communication. 
The  whole  line  of  the  canal  will  exhibit  manufacturing  establishments  and 
rising  villages,  boats  crowded  with  the  productions  of  nature  and  the  fabrics 
of  art,  and  the  enterprising  efforts  of  man  improving  the  bounties  of  heaven. 
To  adopt  the  sublime  language  of  holy  writ,  "  the  wilderness  and  the  soli- 
tary place  will  become  glad,  and  the  desert  will  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the 
rose." 

25 


214 


APPENDIX. 


"4.  The  revenue  arising  from  the  canal  will  for  ever  supersede  the  neces- 
sity of  taxation,  and  will  form  a  vast  fund  applicable  to  other  internal  im- 
provements, to  the  diffusion  of  the  lights  of  science  and  to  the  dispensation 
of  the  blessings  of  education.  In  Great  Britain,  it  has  been  remarked  that 
a  canal  is  always  lucrative,  where  there  are  coal  mines  in  its  vicinity.  The 
demands  of  the  city  of  New-York,  and  the  other  cities  and  villages  on  the 
Hudson,  the  consumption  of  various  parts  of  New-England,  and  the  manufac- 
tories of  New-Jersey,  for  this  indispensable  article  will  for  ever  increase,  and 
for  ever  secure  a  great  revenue  from  the  canal.  Add  to  this,  the  fossils  and  the 
metals  before  mentioned,  the  products  of  the  forest  and  the  field,  and  the 
fabrics  of  art,  and  there  is  no  question  but  that  this  canal  will  enrich  New- 
Jersey  in  her  finances,  as  well  as  in  other  respects. 

"  5.  Reputation  is  as  important  to  states  and  communities  as  to  the  indivi- 
duals who  compose  them.  A  measure  of  this  character  would  encircle  the 
state  with  honour,  and  erect  a  monument  of  renown  as  lasting  as  time.  It 
would  excite  into  activity  the  energies  of  her  sons,  and  present  to  all  her  popu- 
lation an  object  of  patriotic  exultation,  and  to  her  sister  states  a  model  for 
patriotic  imitation.  And  when  the  triumphs  of  ambition,  the  pageantry  of 
power,  and  even  the  splendour  of  scientific  glory  are  lost  in  the  abyss  of  time, 
the  magnanimity  and  public  spirit  which  effected  this  great  work,  will  be  che- 
rished in  the  grateful  hearts  of  all  future  generations. 

"  Fourthly,  The  organ  or  agent  of  accomplishment. — This  canal  may  be 
made — 1st,  by  an  individual;  2d,  by  an  incorporated  company  ;  or  3d,  by  the 
state.  As  the  first  will  not  be  attempted,  nor  ought  it  to  be  permitted,  and  as 
the  second  is  very  exceptionable,  and  perhaps  not  feasible,  it  follows  as  an 
inevitable  consequence  that  the  work  ought  to  be  achieved  by  the  state  ex- 
clusively. 

"  In  Europe,  with  the  exception  of  Great  Britain,  improvements  of  this 
kind  have  been,  I  believe,  always  undertaken  and  accomplished  by  the 
governments.  In  Great  Britain,  the  superabundance  of  private  capital  has 
enabled  companies  to  effect  what  in  other  countries  has  been  the  exclusive 
work  of  the  constituted  authorities ;  but  even  some  cases  have  occurred  in 
that  kingdom  when  it  became  necessary  for  the  government  to  extend  its 


APPENDIX. 


215 


munificence  in  order  to  produce  the  intended  results.  The  same  state  of 
things  prevails  in  this  country  as  in  Europe  generally,  with  respect  to  great 
surplus  capital,  which  either  does  not  exist,  or  is  already  employed,  or  can, 
as  it  is  supposed,  be  more  lucratively  invested.  All  the  canals  that  have 
been  attempted  in  the  United  States,  through  the  intervention  of  incorpora- 
tions, have  failed,  I  believe,  and  principally  for  the  want  of  funds,  except  the 
Middlesex  canal,  which,  although  a  meritorious,  is  comparatively  a  secondary 
work  ;  and  if  New-Jersey  does  attempt  this  expedient,  either  the  stock  will 
not  be  filled  up  or  not  paid  for,  and  the  consequence  will  be  a  failure  greatly 
to  be  deprecated.  But  this  is  not  the  only  objection.  The  company  will 
consult  its  own  interests,  not  the  prosperity  of  the  state.  The  route  of  the 
canal  will  be  designated,  not  with  a  view  to  the  accommodation  of  the  great 
manufacturing  institutions,  but  with  a  view  to  a  cheap,  facile,  and  rapid  con- 
struction :  the  tolls  may  be  burdensome,  and  the  superintendence  may  be 
vexatious.  The  cardinal  interests  of  the  state  may  be  subordinate  to  the 
cupidity  of  a  private  association.  The  capital,  if  it  comes  at  all,  will  proceed 
from  abroad  ;  and  New-Jersey,  that  has  from  the  war  of  the  Revolution  to 
the  present  period,  evinced  a  high  sense  of  character  and  an  honourable  spirit 
of  independence,  will  be  bound  hand  and  foot  by  the  shackles  of  a  non-resi- 
dent company. 

"  I  have  thus,  gentlemen,  at  your  request,  with  entire  respect,  and  without 
the  least  reserve,  given  you  my  views  of  the  contemplated  canal :  and  I  feel 
persuaded  that  this  communication  will  be  considered  in  its  true  light,  not  as 
the  obtrusive  interference  of  a  stranger,  but  as  the  candid  opinions  of  a  sin- 
cere friend  to  the  best  interests  of  New-Jersey. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  perfect  respect, 

"  Your  most  obedient  servant, 

"  DE  WITT  CLINTON." 

"  New- York,  Oct.  24,  1823." 


216 


APPENDIX. 


Letter  to  De  Witt  Clinton,  President  of  the  Board  of  Canal  Commissioners, 
of  the  State  of  New-York,  relative  to  the  Ohio  Canal. 

New- York,  Nov.  8th,  1823. 

Sir, 

Fully  sensible  of  the  deep  interest  that  you  take  in  internal  improvements, 
I  have  the  honour  to  solicit  your  opinion  on  a  subject  of  primary  interest  to 
the  western  states,  and  to  the  United  States  in  general. 

It  is  in  contemplation  by  the  state  of  Ohio  to  make  a  canal  connecting 
Lake  Erie  and  Ohio  river  ;  and  surveys  and  explorations  are  now  taking  place 
with  a  view  to  that  important  object.  As  the  funds  for  this  purpose  can 
only,  as  in  the  case  of  the  New-York  canals,  be  raised  by  loans,  I  would  wish 
to  obtain  information  on  the  following  points,  viz. 

Whether  in  your  opinion  funds  can,  say  in  two  years  from  this  time,  be 
obtained  by  loans  at  different  periods,  as  may  be  required  to  the  amount  of 
$2,500,000,  on  the  credit,  and  in  the  behalf  of  the  state  of  Ohio,  at  an 
interest  of  six  per  cent,  per  annum,  by  giving  satisfactory  assurances  for 
paying  the  interest  semi-annually,  and  reimbursing  the  principal  at  the  expi- 
ration of  thirty  years? 

It  would  also  be  highly  gratifying,  and  perhaps  materially  useful  to  have 
your  judgment  on  the  practicability,  physical  as  well  as  financial,  of  the  pro- 
posed undertaking ;  as  well  as  your  views  on  the  advantages  that  will  be 
derived  from  its  completion. 

You  will  take  into  view  that  the  state  of  Ohio  is  free  from  debt ;  that  her 
soil  and  her  climate  are  excellent ;  that  her  territory  is  extensive  ;  that  her 
population,  next  to  New-York,  will  soon  be  the  most  numerous  in  the  union  ; 
that  the  canal  will,  in  all  probability,  be  lucrative  and  productive  in  propor- 
tion to  its  cost,  as  that  of  New-York ;  and  that  the  revenue  derivable  from  it 
may  be  pledged  to  the  holders  of  the  debt  until  it  is  extinguished. 

Very  respectfully, 

M1CAJAH  T.  WILLIAMS. 


APPENDIX. 


217 


De  Witt  Clinton's  Reply. 

New- York,  Nov.  8th,  1823. 

Sir, 

Your  communication  of  this  day  covers  a  wide  field  of  inquiry,  and 
embraces  many  important  considerations.  I  shall  endeavour  to  give  a  prompt 
and  explicit,  and  I  hope  satisfactory,  reply. 

The  projected  canal  between  Lake  Erie  and  the  Ohio  river,  will,  in  con- 
nexion with  the  New-York  canals,  form  a  navigable  communication  between 
the  Bay  of  New- York,  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence; 
of  course  it  will  embrace  within  its  influence,  the  greater  part  of  the  United 
States  and  of  the  Canadas.  The  advantages  of  a  canal  of  this  description 
are  so  obvious,  so  striking,  so  numerous,  and  so  extensive,  that  it  is  a  work  of 
supererogation  to  bring  them  into  view.  The  state  of  Ohio  from  the  fertility 
of  its  soil,  the  benignity  of  its  climate,  and  its  geographical  position,  must 
always  contain  a  dense  population,  and  the  products  and  consumptions  of  its 
inhabitants  must  for  ever  form  a  lucrative  and  extensive  inland  trade,  exciting 
the  powers  of  productive  industry  and  communicating  aliment  and  energy  to 
external  commerce.  But  when  we  consider  that  this  canal  will  open  a  way 
to  the  great  rivers  that  fall  into  the  Mississippi,  that  it  will  be  felt  not  only  in  the 
immense  valley  of  that  river,  but  as  far  west  as  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the 
borders  of  Mexico ;  and  that  it  will  communicate  with  our  great  inland  seas 
and  their  tributary  rivers,  with  the  ocean  in  various  routes,  and  with  the  most 
productive  regions  of  America, — there  can  be  no  question  respecting  the 
blessings  that  it  will  produce,  the  riches  that  it  will  create,  and  the  energies 
that  it  will  call  into  activity. 

It  must  be  obvious  that  there  can  be  no  insurmountable  physical  difficul- 
ties to  the  opening  of  this  canal,  if  there  be  a  sufficiency  of  water  on  the 
summit  level,  and  the  researches  which  have  been  made,  establish  an  abundant 
supply  beyond  the  possibility  of  doubt.  The  only  questions  that  can  present 
themselves  are  those  of  comparative  difficulty,  expense,  accommodation,  and 
productiveness  in  the  designation  of  a  route  ;  and  this  must  be  committed  to 
the  decision  of  able  engineers. 


218 


APPENDIX. 


I  should  suppose  that  the  maximum  cost  of  this  improvement  will  not 
exceed  two  millions  five  hundred  thousand  dollars.  In  five  years,  by  an 
annual  expenditure  of  five  hundred  thousand  dollars,  this  work  may  be  advan- 
tageously completed.  At  a  rate  of  six  per  cent,  there  would  be  wanted 
30,000  dollars  to  pay  the  first  year's  interest ;  the  second  year  60,000  dollars; 
the  third  year  90,000 ;  the  fourth  year  120,000,  and  the  fifth  year  150,000. 
The  only  financial  difficulty  in  my  opinion  will  be  the  procurement  of  funds 
for  the  payment  of  the  interest.  If  the  canal  be  commenced  on  the  lake  side, 
every  step  of  its  progress  will  open  a  more  extended  navigation,  and  be  the 
means  of  producing  revenue,  and  at  the  termination  of  the  five  years,  the 
profits  of  the  canal  will  not  only  defray  the  interest,  but  produce  a  surplus 
revenue  applicable  to  other  objects. 

Supposing  this  canal  to  be  200  miles  in  extent,  it  could  undoubtedly  by  a 
vigorous  effort,  be  finished  in  two  years,  but  it  is  advisable  to  extend  the 
period  to  five  years.  The  banks  will,  in  that  case,  become  consolidated 
before  much  use.  As  the  operation  proceeds,  there  will  be  an  augmentation 
of  skill,  and  an  acquisition  of  experience,  which  will  produce  economy  and 
improved  workmanship  ;  and  as  one-fifth  of  the  whole  sum  will  in  this  case 
be  only  required  for  each  year,  the  pecuniary  advances  that  are  essential  will 
not  be  so  onerous  as  if  made  within  a  shorter  period,  and  it  ought  to  be  recol- 
lected that  the  Erie  canal  will  be  completed  next  year ;  that  Ohio  can  then 
avail  herself  of  the  aid  of  able  engineers  and  skilful  contractors,  and  that  an 
undertaking  conducted  under  such  auspices,  will  propitiate  public  opinion, 
and  secure  the  confidence  of  capitalists  who  are  disposed  to  embark  their 
funds  in  the  enterprise. 

I  shall  now  proceed  to  answer  the  following  interrogatory  : — '  Whether  in 
my  opinion  funds  can,  say  in  two  years  from  this  time,  be  obtained  by  loans 
at  different  periods,  as  may  be  required,  to  the  amount  of  two  millions  five 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  on  the  credit  and  in  behalf  of  the  state  of  Ohio,  at 
an  interest  of  six  per  cent,  per  annum,  by  giving  satisfactory  assurances  for 
paying  the  interest  semi-annually,  and  reimbursing  the  principal  at  the  termi- 
nation of  thirty  years.' 


APPENDIX. 


219 


I  have  no  hesitation  in  answering  affirmatively.  I  have  no  doubt  but  that 
funds  to  the  extent  specified  and  on  the  terms  proposed  may  be  procured. 

The  requisite  loan  may  be  obtained  either  in  Europe  or  in  this  country. 

It  will  be  recollected  that  there  is  a  vast  disposable  unemployed  capital  in 
Great  Britain.  The  finances  of  that  country  are  in  a  state  of  improvement, 
and  in  a  period  of  peace,  she  now  requires  no  loans.  The  greatest  borrower 
is  consequently  out  of  the  market.  The  moneyed  men  in  Europe  have  there- 
fore accommodated  France,  Austria,  Russia,  and  some  of  the  governments  in 
South  America,  with  extensive  loans  ;  and  certainly  none  of  them  affords 
such  ample  security  for  reimbursement  as  the  state  of  Ohio. 

The  moral  and  political  institutions  of  Ohio  are  all  propitious  to  the  obser- 
vance of  good  faith ;  her  population  is  respectable  in  number,  and  exceeded 
by  none  in  elevation  of  character;  her  government  has  been  wisely  adminis- 
tered ;  and  she  cherishes  with  enthusiasm  that  spirit  of  liberty  and  indepen- 
dence, which  is  connected  with  the  best  interests  of  man,  and  the  most 
flourishing  condition  of  states. 

Next  to  New- York,  Ohio  will  be  the  most  populous  state  in  the  union. 
She  is  susceptible  of  a  population  of  twelve  and  a  half  millions,  contains 
thirty-nine  thousand  square  miles,  and  has  every  facility  for  carrying  the 
pursuits  of  productive  industry  to  the  highest  pitch  of  improvement.  She 
therefore  presents  all  the  leading  inducements  for  the  confidence  of  capitalists. 
She  does  not  owe  a  cent,  and  can,  it  is  hoped,  so  arrange  her  financial  affairs 
as  to  meet  the  interest  of  the  loans.  At  the  termination  of  one  year,  New- 
York  will  have  no  further  occasion  for  loans  ;  and  in  two  years,  a  considerable 
portion  of  the  funded  debt  of  the  United  States  will  be  paid  off".  Capitalists 
can  then  find  no  better  place  of  investment  than  Ohio. 

If  two  millions  and  a  half  are  borrowed,  every  square  mile  will  only  be 
answerable  for  sixty-four  dollars.  What  an  ample  security  for  so  small  a  sum ! 
and  it  will  be  recollected  that  when  this  canal  is  perfected  it  will,  by  the  markets 
which  it  opens,  increase  the  value  of  lands  almost  immediately  fifty  per  cent, 
and  diffuse  the  blessings  of  opulence  over  the  whole  country. 

In  one  word,  sir,  all  that  is  necessary  to  complete  this  great  enterprise  is  the 


220 


APPENDIX. 


will  to  direct  it.  Considering  as  I  always  have,  that  it  is  only  a  continuation 
of  the  Erie  canal — that  it  will  promote  correspondent  advantages,  and  that  it 
is  identified  with  the  stability  of  our  government  and  the  prosperity  of  our 
country,  I  own  that  I  feel  a  more  than  common  solicitude  on  this  subject. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be,  very  respectfully, 

Your  most  obedient  servant, 

DE  WITT  CLINTON. 

Micajah  T.  Williams,  Esq. 
One  of  the  Canal  Commissioners  of  the  State  of  Ohio. 


Communication  from  his  Excellenctj  Governor  Clinton,  relative  to  the  Morris 
and  Delaware  Canal. 

Governor  Clinton  has  been  so  good  as  to  visit,  with  the  president  of  the 
company  and  the  canal  committee,  the  inclined  planes  at  Rockaway,  and  to 
inspect  the  eastern  division  of  the  canal  from  the  summit  level  to  the  Hudson, 
at  the  city  of  Jersey. 

The  inclined  plane  was  put  in  operation  while  he  was  there,  and  he  with 
the  committee  and  a  large  number  of  persons,  in  all  not  less  than  forty, 
passed  on  the  inclined  plane,  in  a  large  and  heavy  scow,  loaded  with  a 
quantity  of  stones,  from  the  upper  to  the  lower  level,  and  from  thence  back 
into  the  upper  level.  The  transit  from  one  level  to  the  other,  a  difference  in 
height  of  fifty-two  feet,  was  made  in  eight  minutes. 

The  following  is  the  communication  to  the  president  of  the  company  from 
Governor  Clinton,  which  expresses  his  opinion  of  the  inclined  plane,  his  views 
of  the  progress  of  the  work,  and  of  the  practicability  and  advantages  of  the 
canal. 

New- York,  May  19th,  1827. 

Sir, 

On  the  23d  of  April,  1823,  the  legislature  of  this  state,  under  the  most 
favourable  impressions  of  the  benefits  that  would  result  to  New-York  as  well 


APPENDIX. 


221 


as  to  New-Jersey,  from  a  navigable  connexion  between  the  rivers  Hudson  and 
Delaware,  by  the  contemplated  route  of  the  Morris  Canal,  directed  the  canal 
commissioners  to  cause  a  survey  and  estimate  to  be  made  by  one  of  our 
experienced  engineers,  with  a  view  to  facilitate  a  measure  considered  so 
important.  The  canal  board  instructed  their  chief  engineer,  Mr.  Benjamin 
Wright,  to  perform  this  duty,  and  as  president  of  that  board,  I  accepted  an 
invitation  to  attend  at  the  same  time.  After  having  viewed  the  whole  line, 
we  submitted  our  opinions  on  the  24th  of  October  of  that  year,  to  the  com- 
missioners of  New-Jersey.  They  are  of  the  most  favourable  character  with 
respect  to  the  practicability  and  importance  of  the  project,  and  they  are  now 
referred  to  as  comprising  our  views  in  extenso. 

It  appears  that  this  canal  has  been  since  undertaken  under  the  auspices  of 
an  incorporated  association,  of  which  you  are  the  president.  And  having 
recently  in  company  with  you,  visited  the  eastern  section  of  this  work,  I  can 
certainly  have  no  hesitation  in  giving  my  opinion  of  its  present  state  and 
future  prospects. 

It  is  ascertained  that  the  summit  level  is  890  feet  above  the  eastern  termi- 
nation of  this  canal,  and  840  above  the  western,  making  an  aggregate  of 
ascent  and  descent  to  be  overcome,  of  1730  feet.  The  great  number  of  locks 
that  would  be  requisite  for  this  purpose,  the  expense  that  would  attend  their 
erection,  and  the  delay  that  would  result  from  the  passage,  render  it  necessary 
that  some  substitute  should  be  adopted,  and  inclined  planes  have  been  pro- 
posed as  the  most  advisable.  The  only  doubt  that  can  possibly  be  raised  in 
reference  to  the  completion  of  this  canal,  is  as  to  the  feasibility  of  this  project. 

In  England  and  France,  inclined  planes  have  been  successfully  adopted 
on  a  limited  scale,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  they  may  not  be  introduced  on 
the  Morris  Canal,  unless  it  may  be,  that  a  load  of  twenty-five  tons  may  render 
that  impracticable,  which  has  been  found  easy  for  vessels  of  eight  or  ten  tons. 
There  is  nothing  in  the  objection  that  can  be  considered  of  a  formidable  nature  : 
but  the  best  demonstration  in  this  as  in  all  other  cases,  is  actual  experiment, 
and  this  has  been  exhibited  at  Rockaway  ;  an  inclined  plane  of  fifty-two  feet 
has  been  erected,  and  a  vessel  of  large  dimensions  has  been  tried  on  it,  without 
any  inconvenience  and  with  great  rapidity.    Having  participated  in  a  passage 

26 


222 


APPENDIX. 


up  and  down  it,  I  can  speak  with  confidence  on  the  subject.  The  work  may 
be  greatly  improved,  and  in  its  present  state,  it  affords  unequivocal  testimony 
in  favour  of  the  utility,  the  practicability  and  the  economy  of  the  erection, 
and  completely  silences  all  cavils  and  objections. 

I  was  not  a  little  surprised  to  observe  the  progress  made  in  the  work  in 
general ;  and  I  consider  it  quite  easy  to  accomplish  the  whole,  and  to  render 
it  operative  in  July  1828.  The  funds  have  been  applied  with  exemplary 
economy ;  what  has  been  done,  has  been  well  done.  The  prospects  of 
abundant  remuneration  to  the  stockholders  are  very  encouraging.  The  most 
productive  sources  of  revenue  will  be  furnished  by  this  conveyance  ;  viz.  coal, 
iron,  lime,  copper,  zinc,  manganese,  copperas,  plumbago,  turpentine,  marble, 
lumber,  manures  of  various  kinds,  the  products  of  agriculture,  and  the  fabrics 
of  manufactures. 

I  should  regret  exceedingly  if  this  important  work  should  be  lost  to  the 
public,  for  the  want  of  three  or  four  hundred  thousand  dollars.  It  is  manifestly 
the  interest  of  the  stockholders  to  complete  it,  and  co-operators  may  confi- 
dently calculate  upon  certain  and  ample  returns  for  their  advances.  The  esti- 
mate of  the  engineer  has  been  verified  by  the  prosperous  progress  of  the  works, 
and  there  is  not  a  shadow  of  doubt  as  to  the  resulting  advantages  to  individuals, 
and  as  to  the  immense  benefits  to  the  community. 

DE  WITT  CLINTON. 

Hon.  C.  D.  Colden. 
President  of  the  Morris  Canal  Company. 


Governor  Clinton's  Observations  relative  to  the  Hampshire  and  Hampden 
Canals. 

The  following  letter,  (says  the  editor  of  the  New-Haven  Herald,)  from  the 
late  Governor  Clinton,  will  be  read  by  all  who  feel  an  interest  in  the  extensive 
internal  improvements,  in  operation  or  contemplated,  in  this  and  the  neigh- 
bouring states.  The  opinion  and  estimates  of  this  scientific  and  disinterested 
person,  whose  experience  in  canalling  operations  was  not  inferior  to  that  of 
any  man  now  living,  and  who  could  not  have  been  biassed  by  any  interested 
motive  whatever,  are  worthy  of  the  greatest  deference  and  respect. 


APPENDIX. 


223 


To  Samuel  Hinckley,  James  HiUhouse,  and  Thomas  Sheldon,  Esqrs.  a  com- 
mittee of  the  Hampshire  and  Hampden  Canal  Company. 

Gentlemen, 

In  consequence  of  an  invitation  from  the  canal  company,  of  which  you 
are  a  committee,  I  had  the  pleasure  to  accompany  you,  and  a  number  of  other 
respectable  gentlemen,  interested  in  the  cause  of  internal  improvement,  from 
New  Haven  in  Connecticut  to  Barnet  in  Vermont.  Our  object  was  to  inspect 
the  Farmington  and  the  Hampshire  and  Hampden  canals,  which  are  in  a  train 
of  rapid  completion,  and  to  explore  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut  river,  with 
a  view  to  the  further  extension  of  artificial  navigation.  In  the  performance  of 
this  tour  I  experienced  the  most  hospitable  attentions  from  you,  and  the  inha- 
bitants of  the  country  through  which  we  passed,  and  which  it  affords  me  no 
common  pleasure  to  acknowledge.  Having  no  other  object  in  view  than  the 
interest  of  internal  improvement,  I  should  greatly  regret  if  my  visit  was  mis- 
construed into  an  intrusive  intermeddling  with  the  concerns  of  other  states, 
or  an  officious  interference  with  existing  controversies.  In  the  few  observa- 
tions which  I  intend  to  make,  I  shall  not  touch  upon  the  comparative  advan- 
tages of  improved  river  or  canal  navigation,  but  shall  confine  myself  exclu- 
sively to  the  practicability,  advantages,  and  expense  of  constructing  a  canal, 
from  the  termination  of  the  Hampshire  and  Hampden  canal  to  Barnet  in 
Vermont. 

It  is  admitted  on  all  sides  that  this  measure  is  practicable.  Indeed,  any 
engineer  pretending  to  deny  it,  would  ruin  his  professional  reputation,  and 
would  exhibit  the  extremity  of  ignorance.  The  only  mode  to  impeach  the 
proceeding,  is  to  surround  it  with  imaginary  difficulties,  to  magnify  the  expense, 
and  depreciate  the  advantages.  Whether  this  course  has  been  pursued  I  know 
not ;  but  if  it  has,  it  reflects  no  great  credit  on  the  candour  and  judgment  of 
those  who  have  adopted  it. 

The  route  from  Northampton  to  Barnet  presents  no  insurmountable 
difficulties,  and  but  in  a  few  cases,  extraordinary  ones.  Much  greater  ones 
have  been  overcome  in  the  construction  of  the  Erie  canal. 


224 


APPENDIX. 


The  country  on  both  sides  of  the  Connecticut  river  is  abundantly  sup- 
plied with  rivers  and  streams  which  run  into  that  river,  and  which  furnish 
all  the  water  requisite  for  canal  navigation.  The  high  hills  and  mountains 
which  adjoin  the  beautiful  and  fertile  valley  of  that  magnificent  river,  will  be 
the  sources  of  inexhaustible  and  perennial  supplies;  and  the  great  precau- 
tion to  be  observed  in  constructing  a  canal,  is  to  carry  it  above  the  highest 
floods  of  the  Connecticut  river,  which,  I  believe,  do  not  exceed  twenty-five 
feet.  If  high  bluff's  extend  into  the  river,  they  may  in  some  instances  be  cut 
through,  and  in  others  the  canal  may  be  carried  round  them,  as  has  been 
successfully  done  in  the  Erie  canal,  and  at  all  events,  and  in  the  worst  sup- 
posabie  cases,  they  may  be  avoided  by  aqueducts  across  Connecticut  river. 
The  whole  difficulty  will  finally  be  resolved  into  a  question  of  expense,  and 
this  is  indeed  the  predominating  consideration. 

The  expense  of  the  Farmington  canal  extending  from  New-Haven  to  the 
Massachusetts  line,  and  about  fifty-six  miles  in  length,  has  been  estimated  at 
420,000  dollars,  and  the  Hampshire  and  Hampden  canal,  from  the  south  line 
of  Massachusetts  to  Northampton,  thirty  miles,  at  290,000  dollars.  And  it  is 
believed  that  the  works  so  far  as  completed  fully  establish  the  correctness  of 
the  estimates.  This  would  not  exceed  8000  dollars  a  mile.  The  distance 
from  Northampton  to  Brattleborough  is  about  forty-eight  miles,  and  it  is  a 
very  liberal  estimate  to  put  down  the  aggregate  cost  of  a  canal  at  505,275 
dollars.  The  distance  from  Brattleborough  to  Barnet  is  one  hundred  and 
seventeen  miles,  which  at  9000  dollars  a  mile,  would  cost  for  a  canal  1,053,000 
dollars.  The  expense  of  the  whole  extent  of  a  canal  from  New-Haven  to 
Barnet  would  be  upon  the  result  of  the  finished  works,  and  the  estimate  of 
the  unfinished  operations,  less  than  10,000  dollars  a  mile  ;  and  all  our  experi- 
ence with  respect  to  canals,  since  the  construction  of  the  Erie  canal,  demon- 
strates beyond  doubt,  that  the  maximum  expense  of  any  given  canal  of  any 
considerable  extent,  not  passing  over  or  under  high  mountains,  will  not  ex- 
ceed on  an  average  10,000  dollars  a  mile. 

The  remaining  inquiry  is,  whether  the  resulting  advantages  will  warrant 
such  a  great  and  expensive  undertaking? 

A  canal,  as  to  its  results,  may  be  contemplated  in  a  double  view :  First, 


APPENDIX.  225 

as  to  public  benefit ;  and  secondly,  as  to  the  profits  of  the  stockholders  or 
proprietors.  If  productive  of  great  public  advantages,  there  is  a  strong  pro- 
bability that  it  will  be  beneficial  to  the  stockholders  who  have  made  invest- 
ments ;  for  the  amount  of  toll  will  depend  on  the  quantity  of  articles  trans- 
ported, and  from  the  quantity  of  commodities  conveyed  to  and  from  market, 
must  flow  the  benefits  to  the  community.  That  a  great,  cheap,  and  a  safe  high- 
way, from  a  distance  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles  near  the  ocean,  into  a 
flourishing  country,  abounding  with  the  productions  of  the  soil,  forests,  and 
mines,  and  the  fabrics  of  manufactures,  covered  with  cities,  towns,  and  villages 
filled  with  a  dense  population,  and  the  residence  of  an  enterprising  and  indus- 
trious people  ;  that  such  a  country  should  not  derive  invaluable  blessings 
from  such  an  operation,  no  one  can  pretend  to  deny.  Sources  of  benefit 
would  be  opened  of  which  we  cannot  now  form  a  conjecture.  Motives  to 
exertion — excitements  to  industry  would  be  created,  which  are  now  beyond 
the  reach  of  human  foresight.  Towns  and  villages  would  spring  up  in  every 
direction,  and  the  wilderness  and  the  solitary  place  will  become  glad,  and  the 
desert  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose. 

This  extended  canal,  besides  the  business  which  it  would  derive  from  a 
fertile  expanse  of  country  on  both  sides  of  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut  river, 
would  engross  all  the  trade  of  the  great  region  from  Barnet  to  the  north  at  an 
immense  distance,  and  far  above  the  line  tvhich  separates  the  United  States 
from  the  British  dominions.  The  transit  duties  arising  from  the  descending 
commodities  will  be  equalled  by  those  arising  from  the  ascending  merchan- 
dize;  for  the  difference  in  the  bulk  of  the  articles  would  be  made  up  by  the 
difference  in  the  amount  of  the  tolls:  and  a  country  will  generally  receive  for 
the  supply  of  its  own  wants  an  equivalent  for  what  it  advances  for  the  wants 
of  others. 

It  is  not  an  unfair  standard  of  comparison — an  unjust  measure  of  appre- 
ciation, to  estimate  the  avails  of  the  contemplated  line  of  canals  by  the  pro- 
ceeds of  the  Champlain  canal,  which  during  the  last  year  amounted  to  85,000 
dollars  ;  and  the  expense  is  about  one-fourth.  At  the  same  rate  the  proposed 
canal  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  would  produce  annually  340,000  dollars 


226  APPENDIX. 

which  would  be  upwards  of  twelve  per  cent,  on  an  expenditure  of  two  millions 
and  a  half  of  dollars. 

DE  WITT  CLINTON. 

Albany,  Jan.  18th,  1828. 


Governor  Clinton's  Observations  relative  to  the  proposed  Delaware  and 
Raritan  Canal. 

The  following  letter  from  Governor  Clinton,  addressed  to  a  gentleman  in 
New-Jersey,  says  the  writer,  "  exhibits  the  same  vigour  of  intellect,  the  same 
expanded  views  and  comprehensive  sagacity,  which  so  eminently  character- 
ized the  great  and  successful  executor  of  the  Grand  Erie  Canal.  As  the  last 
emanation  of  that  departed  and  immortal  mind,  on  a  subject  in  which  it 
delighted  to  employ  its  energy  for  the  blessings  of  posterity  and  the  aggran- 
dizement of  his  native  state,  it  should  be  regarded  with  profound  interest, 
and  felt  with  all  the  weight  of  an  oracle  by  the  legislature  of  New-Jersey  and 
the  citizens  of  the  state." 

"  Albany,  Jan.  22,  1828. 

Sir, 

I  was  honoured  with  your  interesting  letter  of  the  8th  instant,  to 
which  I  should  have  paid  immediate  attention,  had  I  not  been  under  a  great 
pressure  of  official  business ;  and  now  my  time  will  only  permit  a  slight  view 
of  the  subjects  which  you  have  presented  to  my  consideration  :  and  I  hope 
this  communication  will  reach  you  seasonably  and  operate  favourably  for  the 
praiseworthy  objects  which  you  have  in  view. 

As  to  the  transcendant  importance  of  a  navigable  connexion  between  the 
Bays  of  New-York  and  the  Delaware,  there  cannot  be  a  doubt.  And 
when  it  is  considered  that  this  communication  will  be  extended  to  the 
Bay  of  Chesapeake  by  the  Chesapeake  and  Delaware  canal  ;  and  that  the 
whole  will  embrace  within  its  influence,  the  Hudson,  the  Delaware,  the  Sus- 


APPENDIX. 


227 


quchannah,  and  the  rivers  flowing  into  them  and  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  the 
advantages  of  the  canal  which  you  contemplate,  from  the  Delaware  to  the 
Raritan,  must  be  palpable  and  incalculable.  It  is  well  known,  that  the  en- 
terprising spirit,  which  distinguishes  our  national  character,  is  limited  only  by 
the  realities  or  prospects  of  profitable  adventure.  Abroad,  it  is  witnessed  in 
every  region,  however  remote  or  secluded.  At  home,  nothing  escapes  its 
scrutiny  or  communion.  Wherever  a  market  can  be  found — wherever  an 
interchange  of  benefits  can  be  had — wherever  a  facile  communication 
can  be  obtained, — you  will  see  the  products  of  the  soil,  of  the  mines,  and 
of  the  forests — the  fabrics  of  manufactures,  and  the  importations  of  external 
commerce.  In  July,  182G,  I  passed  through  a  remote  part  of  this  state, 
bordering  on  the  Susquehannah  ;  and  a  trader  there,  availing  himself  of  a 
rise  of  water  in  a  small  stream,  had  just  returned  from  conveying  a  raft 
of  lumber  to  the  city  of  Washington,  with  ample  profits  on  the  sales,  and 
at  a  distance  of  seven  hundred  miles.  A  few  weeks  afterwards  I  was 
informed  at  Oleon,  one  of  the  head  waters  of  the  Alleghany,  that  it  was 
not  uncommon  to  convey  from  that  place,  pressed  hay,  in  arks,  to  .Natchez, 
and  lumber  to  New-Orleans.  The  operation  of  the  same  spirit  wilPbe  most 
forcibly  and  liberally  experienced,  when  the  great  markets  of  New-York, 
Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore,  are  thrown  open  to  the  access  of  a  vast  popula- 
tion, covering  such  immense  regions  as  will  be  comprehended  by  these  canals, 
and  the  natural  waters  communicating  with  them.  To  doubt  on  this  subject 
would  exhibit  a  skepticism  approaching  dementation. 

I  perceive  that  it  is  proposed  to  make  the  main  trunk  of  the  Delaware  and 
Raritan  canal  fifty  miles  long,  sixty  feet  wide  at  the  top,  six  feet  deep — that 
the  entire  lockage  will  be  about  fifty  feet  on  each  side  of  the  summit  level, 
and  that  it  is  to  be  supplied  by  a  navigable  feeder  of  twenty-five  or  thirty 
miles  long,  thirty  feet  wide  at  the  surface,  and  from  four  and  a  half  to  five  feet 
deep. 

This  plan  is  a  judicious  one.  The  main  canal  will  be  susceptible  of  sloop 
navigation,  and  the  increased  width  and  depth  beyond  those  usually  adopted, 
will  render  the  transit  of  vessels  more  easy  and  rapid. 

This  work  can  be  made  without  any  great  physical  difficulty.    The  cost  will 


228 


APPENDIX. 


not  exceed  1,200,000  dollars  ;  and  no  doubt  a  loan  can  be  obtained  for  that 
purpose  by  your  state,  at  an  interest  of  five  per  cent.  I  am  decidedly  of  opi- 
nion, that  it  ought  to  be  undertaken  and  owned  by  the  state.  The  financial 
inducements  to  this  measure  are  as  obvious  as  those  which  affect  the  other 
cardinal  interests  of  the  community. 

This  canal,  including  its  feeder,  will  be  about  the  same  extent  as  the  Cham- 
plain  canal ;  and  it  is  a  very  liberal  concession  in  favour  of  the  latter,  to  say 
that  the  income  will  be  about  the  same :  the  expense  of  superintendence 
and  repairs  will  probably  be  less,  and  its  increase  of  revenue  will  undoubtedly 
be  more  rapid.  The  interest  of  the  loan  to  effect  it,  will  be  sixty  thousand 
dollars;  the  proceeds  of  the  Champlain  canal  for  the  last  year  were  85,000, 
and  its  progressive  increase  has  been  more  than  ten  percent,  per  annum.  The 
avails  of  your  canal,  will,  consequently,  in  a  few  years  extinguish  the  debt, 
when,  in  all  probability,  the  state  will  derive  a  clear  annual  revenue  of  a  quar- 
ter of  a  million  of  dollars.  And  when  we  connect  with  this  consideration, 
the  establishment  of  towns  and  villages,  the  creation  of  a  dense  population, 
and  the  acquisition  of  valuable  home  markets  in  the  vicinity,  and  along  the 
whole  line  of  the  canal,  there  ought  to  be  no  hesitancy  about  acting  promptly 
and  decidedly  in  favour  of  a  measure  so  abounding  with  benefits. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

DE  WITT  CLINTON. 


Note  M. — p.  82. 

Letter  from  Governor  Clinton  to  the  Rev.  John  Stanford,  relative  to  the  case  of 
Miller  under  sentence  of  death  for  murder. 

Albany,  January  21st,  1828. 

Rev.  Sir, 

I  have  received  your  representation  of  the  state  of  William  Miller, 
under  sentence  of  death  for  murder.  Although  I  have  no  doubt  of  the  right 
of  government  to  inflict  the  punishment  of  death  in  certain  cases,  yet  I  always 
feel  the  utmost  anxiety,  when  the  pardoning  power  is  appealed  to  on  such 


APPENDIX. 


229 


occasions.  To  mingle  justice  with  mercy,  and  to  preserve  a  human  being 
from  death,  without  violating  those  precautions  which  are  necessary  for  the 
welfare  of  human  society,  is  indeed  an  important  trust.  A  momentous  power 
which  ought  to  be  exercised  with  caution,  with  prudence,  and  with  a  humble 
reliance  upon  divine  Providence. 

I  have  considered  the  case  of  William  Miller  over  and  over  again,  and 
with  the  most  profound  solicitude  :  and  I  can  come  to  no  other  conclusion, 
than  that  which  was  sanctioned  by  a  jury  of  the  country.  His  crime,  in  my 
opinion,  is  a  clear  case  of  murder,  perpetrated  under  circumstances  of  bar- 
barity, with  intermissions  of  violence  which  left  ample  room  for  reflection, 
and  without  any  extenuation  but  drunkenness,  if  that  can  be  so  considered, 
and  followed  by  declarations  of  the  most  unfeeling  character.  Under  this 
aspect  of  the  case,  I  cannot  interpose  the  pardoning  power,  without  a  violation 
of  the  most  sacred  and  solemn  duties. 

Accept,  worthy  and  venerable  sir,  the  assurances  of  my  great  respect  and 
continued  friendship. 

DE  WITT  CLINTON. 

Rev.  John  Standford. 


Governor  Clinton's  Letter  to  Judge  Edwards. 

Albany,  February  5th,  182S. 

Sir, 

I  received  in  due  season  from  you,  as  presiding  judge  of  a 
court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer,  held  in  and  for  the  city  and  county  of  New- 
York,  minutes  of  the  trial  of  William  Miller,  on  the  10th  of  December  last, 
for  the  murder  of  David  Ackerman,  by  which  it  appears  that  he  was  duly 
convicted  of  the  crime,  and  sentenced  to  be  executed  on  the  26th  of  January 
last.  After  an  attentive  perusal  and  deliberate  consideration  of  this  and  the 
accompanying  documents,  and  of  the  papers  sent  up  by  Mr.  E.  King,  one  of 
the  counsel  assigned  for  the  prisoner  by  the  court,  and  several  conferences 
with  Mr.  R.  Emmet,  the  other  counsel,  I  came  to  the  same  conclusion  with 

27 


230 


APPENDIX. 


the  court  and  jury,  that  the  prisoner  was  guilty,  and  that  therefore  the  executive 
ought  not  to  interfere  .in  his  favour.  This  decision  I  communicated  to  Mr. 
Emmet  on  the  morning  of  the  19th  ultimo,  as  my  definitive  determination. 
Shortly  after,  on  opening  some  letters  on  my  table,  I  found  a  communication 
from  you,  and  a  duplicate  relative  to  this  subject,  in  which  you  announced  a 
change  in  your  views,  and  assigned  your  reasons.  I  then  mentioned  to  Mr. 
Emmet  that  I  would  look  over  your  communication  and  reconsider  the  case, 
and  inform  him  of  the  result  on  Monday — at  which  time  I  told  him  that  1 
could  not  reconcile  it  with  my  sense  of  duty,  and  my  views  of  the  subject,  to 
interpose,  either  by  a  change  or  remission  of  the  punishment,  and  that  the 
law  must  take  its  course  :  on  the  same  evening  I  wrote  a  letter  of  a  similar 
import  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Stanford,  chaplain  of  the  prison,  in  answer  to  one 
received  from  him,  so  that  the  convict  might  be  prepared  as  far  as  possible 
for  the  awful  fate  that  awaited  him.  On  the  evening  of  the  27th  January,  I 
received,  to  my  great  surprise,  a  letter  from  you  informing  me  that  the  Court 
of  Oyer  and  Terminer  had  considered  it  their  duty  to  reprieve  the  convict  until 
the  16th  of  this  month.  On  taking  the  subject  into  consideration,  1  have  no 
doubt  that  the  court,  with  pure  motives,  mistook  their  powers,  and  my  only 
object  in  making  this  declaration  is  to  prevent  the  act  to  which  I  except  from 
being  drawn  into  precedent.  The  constitution  entrusts  the  governor  with 
power  over  reprieves  and  pardons,  and  I  think  that  from  the  very  terms  it  is 
exclusive. 

The  power  claimed  in  this  case  by  the  court  over  which  you  preside,  has 
never  before  been  exercised  in  this  country — it  is  incompatible  with  the 
arrangements  of  our  government — against  the  constitution,  and  pregnant 
with  the  most  mischievous  results.  It  has  been  claimed  in  extraordinary 
cases  by  the  judges  in  England,  but  the  great  commentator  who  concedes  it, 
qualifies  the  concession  by  saying  that  it  is  rather  by  common  usage  than  of 
strict  right.  The  judges  are  emanations  of  the  regal  power ;  and  even  the 
king  himself,  in  his  regal  office,  and  not  his  person,  is  always  present  in  the 
eye  of  the  law  in  all  his  courts.  Our  government  is  divided  into  three  great 
departments — legislative,  executive,  and  judicial.  Our  judiciary,  as  well  as  the 
others,  must  look  for  its  powers  in  the  grants  of  the  constitution.    Now  it 


APPENDIX. 


23 1 


must  be  admitted,  that  the  power  that  reprieves  or  pardons,  is  an  executive 
power  expressly  delegated — and,  however  it  may  be  represented  in  Hale, 
Hawkins,  and  Blackstone,  they  can  be  of  no  authority  on  this  occasion. 
There  may  be  emergent  cases  in  which  reprieves  or  pardons  ought  to  be 
granted — in  cases  of  pregnancy,  insanity,  or  unexpected  discovery  of  inno- 
cence. In  these  cases,  if  the  executive  power  cannot  operate,  in  all  probabi- 
lity, the  sheriff,  relying  on  the  justice  of  his  country,  might  take  the  risk  upon 
himself,  and  without  any  pretence  of  authority,  exercise  mercy  upon  indeed 
an  awful  responsibility.  But  this  case  is  a  different  one — it  is  a  claim  of  right 
— and  the  pernicious  consequences  to  which  it  may  lead,  are  obvious.  There 
is  a  court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer  in  every  county,  and  there  are  56  counties. 
Admit  the  power  over  reprieves  to  be  in  fifty-six  courts — admit  that  these 
courts  are  more  or  less  trustworthy,  more  or  less  liable  to  deception — may 
they  not  in  many  cases  prostrate  justice,  and  adopt  measures  of  the  most 
injurious  tendency  ?  The  power  of  the  executive  may  be  completely  overthrown 
in  this  respect ;  for,  if  a  court  may  respite  for  a  day,  they  may  for  a  year ; 
and  on  the  exhibition  of  new  testimony,  they  may  try  over  a  criminal,  and 
declare  him  innocent,  whom  before  they  had  pronounced  guilty,  and  act  as  a 
respiting  power  :  there  will  be  no  certainty  in  punishment — a  virtual  pardon- 
ing power  will  be  established  in  each  county,  instead  of  one  express  pardon- 
ing power  for  the  whole  state  !  And,  if  the  judiciary  be  exposed  to  sudden 
and  powerful  attempts  on  its  humanity,  as  is  probable  in  the  present  case,  to 
suspend  the  sentence  of  the  law,  what  must  be  the  effect  on  the  executive 
when  it  comes  before  him  backed  by  judicial  authority — a  prevalent  senti- 
ment against  the  punishment  of  death — a  reluctance  in  the  firmest  minds  to 
accede  to  it — plausible  reasons  for  a  milder  course — and  conflicting  opinions 
about  the  right  of  infliction  after  an  intermeddling  with  the  sentence?  Will 
not  the  executive,  in  almost  every  case,  be  compelled  to  change  the  punish- 
ment ;  and  in  the  present  instance,  which  has  been  pronounced  by  the  judges 
and  jury  the  crime  of  murder,  and  which  I  may  still  believe  so,  with  all  due 
deference  to  the  opinion  of  the  court,  I  am  compelled  by  the  extraordinary 
circumstances,  embarrassments,  and  perplexities  attending  it,  to  interfere  with 
a  conditional  pardon.    And  as  the  course  to  which  1  except  is  obnoxious  to 


232 


APPENDIX. 


so  many  objections,  and  may  be  productive  of  so  many  evils,  and  is  without 
precedent,  so  I  sincerely  hope  that  it  may  be  without  imitation. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be,  &c. 

DE  WITT  CLINTON. 

The  Hon.  Judge  Edwards. 


Note  N.— p.  88. 

As  the  following  memorial  addressed  to  Governor  Burnet  in  1724,  by  Cad- 
wallader  Colden,  at  that  time  surveyor-general  of  the  province  of  New-York, 
afterwards  Lieutenant-Governor,  relates  many  interesting  facts  relative  to 
the  fur  trade  at  that  period,  and  as  an  historical  paper,  is  in  other  respects 
valuable,  at  the  same  time  that  it  contains  the  earliest  prospective  views  of 
the  improvement  of  the  internal  navigation  of  this  state,  I  am  induced  to  give 
it  a  place  among  the  documents  relating  to  this  subject. 

A  Memorial  concerning  the  Fur  Trade  of  the  -province  of  New-  York.  Pre- 
sented to  his  Excellency  William  Burnet,  Esq.  Captain- General  and 
Governor,  tyc.  by  Cadwallader  Colden,  Surveyor-General  of  the  said 
province,  the  10th  of  December,  1724. 

It  has  of  late  been  generally  believed,  that  the  inhabitants  of  ihe  province 
of  New-York  are  so  advantageously  situated,  with  respect  to  the  Indian  trade, 
and  enjoy  so  many  advantages  as  to  trade  in  general,  that  it  is  in  their  power 
not  only  to  rival  the  French  of  Canada,  who  have  almost  entirely  engrossed 
the  Fur  Trade  of  America,  but  that  it  is  impossible  for  the  French  to  carry  on 
that  trade  in  competition  with  the  people  of  this  province.  The  inquiring  into 
the  truth  of  this  proposition,  may  not  only  be  of  some  consequence,  as  to  the 
riches  and  honour  of  the  British  nation,  (for  it  is  well  known  how  valuable  the  fur 
trade  of  America  is)butlikewiseas  to  the  safety  of  all  the  British  colonies  in  North 
America.  New  France,  as  the  French  now  claim,  extends  from  the  mouth  of 
the  river  Mississippi,  to  the  mouth  of  the  river  St.  Lawrence,  by  which  the 


APPENDIX. 


233 


French  plainly  show  their  intention  of  enclosing  the  British  settlements,  and 
cutting  us  off  from  all  commerce  with  the  numerous  nations  of  Indians,  that 
are  every  where  settled  over  the  vast  continent  of  North  America.  The 
English  in  America  have  too  good  reason  to  apprehend  such  a  design,  when 
they  see  the  French  king's  geographer  publish  a  map,  by  which  he  has  set 
bounds  to  the  British  empire  in  America,  and  has  taken  in  many  of  the 
English  settlements  both  in  South  Carolina  and  New-York,  within  these 
boundaries  of  New  France.  And  the  good  services  they  intend  us  with  the 
Indians,  but  too  plainly  appears  at  this  day,  by  the  Indian  war  now  carried 
on  against  New-England. 

I  have  therefore  for  some  time  past,  endeavoured  to  inform  myself  from  the 
writings  of  the  French,  and  from  others  who  have  travelled  in  Canada,  or 
among  the  Indians,  how  far  the  people  of  this  province  may  carry  on  the 
Indian  trade  with  more  advantage  than  the  French  can ;  or  what  disadvan- 
tages they  labour  under  more  than  the  French  do.  As  all  endeavours  for 
the  good  of  one's  country  are  excusable,  I  do  not  doubt  but  my  intention  in 
this  will  be  acceptable  to  your  excellency,  though  I  be  not  capable  of  treating 
the  subject  as  it  deserves. 

I  shall  begin  with  Canada,  and  consider  what  advantages  they  have  either 
by  their  situation  or  otherwise.  Canada  is  situated  upon  the  river  of  St. 
Lawrence,  by  which  the  five  great  lakes  (which  may  properly  be  called  the 
five  inland  seas  of  North  America)  empty  themselves  into  the  ocean.  The 
mouth  of  this  great  river  is  in  the  latitude  of  50°,  over  against  the  body  of 
Newfoundland.  It  rises  from  the  Cataracui,  now  Lake  Ontario,  the  eastern- 
most of  the  five  great  lakes,  about  the  latitude  of  44°,  and  runs  from  thence 
about  north-east  to  the  ocean,  and  is  about  nine  hundred  miles  in  length, 
from  that  lake  to  the  ocean.  The  five  great  lakes  which  communicate  with 
each  other,  and  with  this  river,  extend  about  one  thousand  miles  westward 
further  into  the  continent.  So  far  the  French  have  already  discovered,  and 
their  discoveries  make  it  probable,  that  an  inland  passage  may  be  found  to 
the  South  Sea,  by  the  rivers  which  run  into  these  lakes,  and  rivers  which  run 
into  the  South  Sea. 

The  method  of  carrying  goods  upon  the  rivers  of  North  America,  into  all 


234 


APPENDIX. 


the  small  branches  and  over  land,  from  the  branches  of  one  river  to  the 
branches  of  another,  was  learned  from  the  Indians,  and  is  the  only  method 
practicable  through  such  large  forests  and  deserts  as  the  traders  pass  through, 
in  carrying  from  one  nation  to  another — it  is  this ;  the  Indians  make  a  long 
narrow  boat,  made  of  the  bark  of  the  birch  tree,  the  parts  of  which  they  join 
very  neatly.  One  of  these  canoes  that  can  carry  a  dozen  men,  can  itself  be 
easily  carried  upon  two  men's  shoulders  ;  so  that  when  they  have  gone  as  far 
by  water  as  they  can,  which  is  further  than  is  easily  to  be  imagined,  because 
their  loaded  canoes  don't  sink  six  inches  into  the  water,  they  unload  their 
canoes,  and  carry  both  goods  and  canoes  upon  their  shoulders  over  land,  into 
the  nearest  branch  of  the  river  they  intend  to  follow.  Thus  the  French  have 
an  easy  communication  with  all  the  countries  bordering  upon  the  river  of  St. 
Lawrence,  and  its  branches,  with  all  the  countries  bordering  upon  these 
inland  seas,  and  the  rivers  which  empty  themselves  into  these  seas,  and  can 
thereby  carry  their  burdens  of  merchandise  through  all  these  large  countries, 
which  could  not  by  any  other  means  than  water-carriage  be  carried  through 
so  vast  a  tract  of  land. 

This,  however,  but  half  finishes  the  view  the  French  have  as  to  their  com- 
merce in  North  America.  Many  of  the  branches  of  the  river  Mississippi  come 
so  near  to  the  branches  of  several  of  the  rivers  which  empty  themselves 
into  the  great  lakes,  that  in  several  places  there  is  but  a  short  land-carriage 
from  the  one  to  the  other.  As  soon  as  they  have  got  into  the  River  Missis- 
sippi, they  open  to  themselves  as  large  a  field  for  traffic  in  the  southern  parts 
of  North  America,  as  was  before  mentioned  with  respect  to  the  northern  parts. 
If  one  considers  the  length  of  this  river  and  its  numerous  branches,  he  must 
say,  that  by  means  of  this  river  and  the  lakes,  there  is  opened  to  his  view  such 
a  scene  of  inland  navigation  as  cannot  be  paralleled  in  any  other  part  of  the 
world. 

The  French  have,  with  much  industry,  settled  small  colonies,  and  built 
stockaded  forts  at  all  the  considerable  passes  between  the  lakes,  except 
between  Cataracui  Lake,  called  by  (he  French  Ontario,  and  Lake  Erie,  one 
of  our  Five  Nations  of  Indians,  whom  we  call  Senecas,  and  the  French  So- 
nontouans,  having  hitherto  refused  them  leave  to  erect  any  buildings  there. 


APPENDIX. 


235 


The  French  have  been  indefatigable  in  making  discoveries,  and  carrying 
on  their  commerce  with  nations,  of  whom  the  English  know  nothing  but  what 
they  see  in  the  French  maps  and  books.  The  barrenness  of  the  soil,  and  the 
coldness  of  the  climate  of  Canada,  obliges  the  greatest  number  of  the  inhabi- 
tants to  seek  their  living  by  travelling  among  the  Indians,  or  by  trading  with 
those  who  do  travel.  The  Governor,  and  other  officers,  have  but  a  scanty 
allowance  from  the  king,  and  could  not  subsist  were  it  not  by  the  perquisites 
they  have  from  this  trade  ;  neither  could  their  priests  find  any  means  to  satisfy 
their  ambition  and  luxury  without  it.  So  that  all  heads  and  hands  are  em- 
ployed to  advance  it,  and  the  men  of  best  parts  think  it  the  surest  way  to 
advance  themselves  by  travelling  among  the  Indians,  and  learning  their  lan- 
guages ;  even  the  bigotry  and  enthusiasm  of  some  hot  heads,  has  not  been  a 
little  useful  in  advancing  this  commerce  ;  for  that  government  having  prudently 
turned  the  edge  of  the  zeal  of  such  hot  spirits  upon  converting  the  Indians, 
many  of  them  have  spent  their  lives  under  the  greatest  hardships,  in  endea- 
vouring to  gain  the  Indians  to  their  religion,  and  to  love  the  French  nation, 
while,  at  the  same  time,  they  are  no  less  industrious  to  represent  the  English 
as  the  enemies  of  mankind.  So  that  the  whole  policy  of  that  government, 
both  civil  and  religious,  is  admirably  turned  to  the  general  advancement  of 
this  trade.  Indeed  the  art  and  industry  of  the  French,  especially  that  of 
their  religious  missions,  has  so  far  prevailed  upon  all  the  Indians  in  North 
America,  that  they  are  every  where  directed  by  French  councils.  Even  our 
own  Five  Nations,  the  Iroquois,  who  formerly  were  mortal  enemies  of  the 
French,  and  have  always  lived  in  the  strictest  amity  with  the  English,  have  of 
late,  by  the  practices  of  the  French  priests,  been  so  far  gained,  that  several  of 
the  Mohawks  who  live  nearest  the  English,  have  left  their  habitations,  and 
are  gone  to  settle  near  Montreal  in  Canada;  and  all  the  rest  discover  a  dread 
of  the  French  power.  That  much  of  this  is  truly  owing  to  the  priests,  appears 
from  many  of  the  Sachems  of  the  Iroquois  wearing  crucifixes  when  they  come 
to  Albany.  And  those  Mohawk  Indians  that  are  gone  to  Canada,  are  now 
commonly  known,  both  to  the  French  and  English,  by  the  name  of  the 
Praying  Indians,  it  being  customary  for  them  to  go  through  the  streets  of 
Montreal  with  their  beads,  praying  and  begging  alms. 


236 


APPENDIX. 


But  notwithstanding  all  these  advantages,  the  French  labour  under  difficul- 
ties that  no  art  or  industry  can  remove.  The  mouth  of  the  river  of  St.  Law- 
rence, and  more  especially  the  bay  of  St.  Lawrence,  lies  so  far  north,  and  is 
thereby  so  often  subject  to  tempestuous  weather  and  thick  fogs,  that  the 
navigation  there  is  very  dangerous,  and  never  attempted  but  during  the  sum- 
mer months.  The  wideness  of  this  bay,  together  with  the  many  strong 
currents  that  run  in  it,  the  many  shelves  and  sunken  rocks  that  are  every 
where  spread  over  both  the  bay  and  river,  and  the  want  of  places  for  anchor- 
ing in  the  bay,  all  increase  the  danger  of  this  navigation ;  so  that  a  voyage 
to  Canada  is  justly  esteemed  much  more  dangerous  than  to  any  other  part  of 
America.  The  many  shipwrecks  that  happen  in  this  navigation,  are  but  too 
evident  proofs  of  the  truth  of  this,  particularly  the  miscarriage  of  the  last 
expedition  against  Canada.  The  channel  is  so  difficult,  and  the  tides  so 
strong,  that  after  their  shipping  get  into  the  river,  they  never  attempt  to 
sail  in  the  night,  though  the  wind  be  fair,  and  the  weather  good.  These  diffi- 
culties are  so  considerable,  that  the  French  never  attempt  above  one  voyage 
in  a  year  to  Europe  or  the  West  Indies,  though  it  be  really  nearer  Europe 
than  any  of  the  English  colonies,  where  the  shipping  that  constantly  use  the 
trade,  always  make  two  voyages  in  the  year. 

The  navigation  between  Quebec  and  Montreal  is  likewise  very  dangerous 
and  difficult.  The  tide  rises  about  eighteen  or  twenty  feet  at  Quebec, 
which  occasions  so  strong  a  stream,  that  a  boat  of  six  oars  cannot  make  way 
against  it ;  the  river  in  many  places  very  wide,  and  the  channel  at  the  same 
time  narrow  and  crooked  ;  there  are  many  shelves  and  sunken  rocks,  so  that 
the  best  pilots  have  been  deceived ;  for  which  reason  vessels  that  carry  goods 
to  Montreal,  are  always  obliged  to  anchor  before  night,  though  both  wind 
and  tide  be  fair.  The  flood  goes  no  further  than  Trois  Rivieres,  half  way  to 
Montreal,  and  about  ninety  miles  from  Quebec.  After  they  pass  this  place 
they  have  a  strong  stream  always  against  them,  which  requires  a  fair  wind 
and  a  strong  gale  to  carry  the  vessels  against  the  stream.  And  they  are 
obliged  in  this  part  of  the  river,  as  well  as  under  the  Trois  Rivieres,  to  come 
to  anchor  at  night  though  the  wind  be  good.  These  difficulties  make  the 
common  passages  take  up  three  or  four  weeks,  and  sometimes  six  weeks ; 


APPENDIX. 


237 


though  if  they  have  the  chance  of  a  wind  to  continue  so  long,  they  may  run 
it  in  five  or  six  days. 

After  they  pass  Montreal  they  have  a  strong  stream  against  them  till  they 
come  near  the  Lakes ;  so  that  in  all  that,  which  is  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  in  length,  they  force  their  canoes  forward  with  setting  poles,  or  drag 
them  with  ropes  along  shore  ;  and  at  five  or  six  different  places  in  that  way 
the  river  fulls  over  rocks  with  such  force,  that  they  are  obliged  to  unload  their 
canoes,  and  carry  them  upon  their  shoulders.  They  never  make  this  voyage 
from  Montreal  to  Lake  Ontario  in  less  than  twenty  days,  and  frequently, 
twice  that  time  is  necessary. 

Now  we  are  come  so  far  as  the  lake,  my  design  leads  me  no  further,  for  at 
this  lake  all  the  far  Indians  that  go  to  Canada  must  pass  by  our  traders. 
And  from  thence  the  road  to  the  Indian  countries  is  the  same  from  Albany 
that  it  is  from  Montreal. 

Besides  these  difficulties  in  the  transportation,  the  French  labour  under 
greater  in  the  purchasing  of  the  principal  goods  proper  for  the  Tndian  market ; 
for  the  most  considerable  and  most  valuable  part  of  their  cargo  consists  in 
strouds,  duffils,  blankets,  and  other  woollens,  which  are  bought  at  a  much 
cheaper  rate  in  England  than  in  France.  The  strouds,  which  the  Indians 
value  more  than  any  other  clothing,  are  only  made  in  England,  and  must  be 
transported  into  France  before  they  can  be  carried  to  Canada.  Rum  is 
another  considerable  branch  of  the  Indian  trade  which  the  French  have  not, 
by  reason  they  have  no  commodities  in  Canada  fit  for  the  West  India  market. 
This  they  supply  with  brandy,  at  a  much  dearer  rate  than  rum  can  be  pur- 
chased at  New-York,  though  of  no  more  value  with  the  Indians.  Generally, 
all  the  goods  used  in  the  Indian  trade,  except  gunpowder,  and  a  few  trinkets, 
are  sold  at  Montreal  for  twice  their  value  at  Albany.  To  this  likewise  must 
be  added,  the  necessity  they  are  under  of  laying  the  whole  charge  of  support- 
ing their  government  on  the  Indian  trade.  I  am  not  particularly  informed  of 
their  duties  or  imposts,  but  I  am  well  assured,  that  they  commonly  give  six  or 
seven  hundred  livres  for  a  licence  for  one  canoe,  in  proportion  to  her  large- 
ness, to  go  with  her  loading  into  the  Indian  country  to  trade. 

I  shall  next  consider  the  advantages  the  inhabitants  of  New-York  have  in 
28 


238 


APPENDIX. 


carrying  on  this  trade.  In  the  first  place,  the  ships  that  constantly  use  the 
trade  to  England,  perform  their  voyage  to  and  from  London  twice  every  year; 
and  those  that  go  to  Bristol,  the  port  from  whence  the  greatest  part  of  the 
goods  for  the  Indian  trade  are  exported,  frequently  return  in  four  months. 
These  goods  are  bought  much  cheaper  in  England  than  in  France :  they  are 
transported  in  less  time,  with  less  charge,  and  much  less  risk,  as  appears  by 
the  premium  for  insurance  between  London  and  New-York,  being  only  two 
per  cent.  Goods  are  easily  carried  from  New-York  to  Albany  up  the  Hudson 
River,  the  distance  being  only  140  miles,  the  river  very  straight  all  the  way, 
and  bold,  and  very  free  from  sand  banks,  as  well  as  rocks ;  so  that  the  vessels 
always  sail  as  well  by  night  as  by  day,  and  have  the  advantage  of  the  tide  upwards 
as  well  as  downwards,  the  flood  flowing  above  Albany.  It  may  therefore  be 
safely  concluded,  that  all  sorts  of  goods  can  be  carried  to  Albany  at  a  cheaper 
rate  than  they  can  be  to  Quebec,  which  is  also  three  times  further  from  the 
Indian  country  than  Albany  is.  To  put  the  truth  of  this  out  of  all  dispute, 
I  need  only  observe  what  is  well  known  both  at  New-York  and  Albany,  viz. 
That  almost  all  the  strouds  carried  by  the  French  into  the  Indian  countries, 
as  well  as  large  quantites  of  other  goods,  for  the  use  of  the  French  themselves, 
are  carried  from  Albany  to  Montreal.  There  has  been  an  account  kept  of 
nine  hundred  pieces  of  strouds  transported  thither  in  one  year,  besides  other 
commodities  of  very  considerable  value.  The  distance  between  Albany  and 
Montreal,  is  about  two  hundred  miles,  all  by  water,  except  twelve  miles 
between  Hudson  River  and  Wood  Creek,  where  they  carry  their  bark  canoes 
over  land,  and  about  sixteen  miles  between  Chambly  and  La  Prairie,  over 
against  Montreal.  And  though  the  passage  be  so  short  and  easy,  these  goods 
are  generally  sold  at  double  their  value  in  Albany. 

But  as  this  path  hath  been  thought  extremely  prejudicial  to  the  interests  of 
this  colony,  I  shall  leave  it  and  go  on  to  another  that  leads  directly  from  Albany 
into  the  Cataracui  or  Ontario  Lake,  without  going  near  any  of  the  French 
settlements. 

From  Albany  the  Indian  traders  commonly  carry  their  goods  sixteen  miles 
over  land,  to  the  Mohawk  River  at  Schenectady,  the  charge  of  which  carriage 
is  nine  shillings  New- York  money,  or  five  shillings  sterling  each  waggon-load. 


APPENDIX. 


239 


From  Schenectady  they  carry  them  in  canoes  up  the  Mohawk  River,  to  the 
carrying-place  between  the  Mohawk  River  and  the  river  which  runs  into  the 
Oneida  Lake ;  which  carrying-place  between  is  only  three  miles  long,  except 
in  very  dry  weather,  when  they  are  obliged  to  carry  them  two  miles  further. 
From  thence  they  go  with  the  current  down  the  Onondaga  River  to  Lake 
Ontario.  The  distance  between  Albany  and  Lake  Ontario  this  way,  is  nearly 
the  same  with  that  between  Albany  and  Montreal ;  and  likewise  with  that 
between  Montreal  and  Lake  Ontario,  and  the  passage  much  easier  than  the 
last,  because  the  stream  of  the  Mohawk  River  is  not  near  so  strong  as  the  river 
St.  Lawrence  between  the  Lake  and  Montreal,  and  there  is  no  fall  in  the 
river  save  one  short  one  ;  whereas  there  are,  as  I  have  said,  at  least  five  in  the 
river  St.  Lawrence,  where  the  canoes  must  be  unloaded.  Therefore  it 
plainly  follows,  that  the  Indian  goods  may  be  carried  at  as  cheap  a  rate  from 
Albany  to  Lake  Ontario,  as  from  Albany  to  Montreal.  So  that  the  people  of 
Albany  plainly  save  all  the  charge  of  carrying  goods  two  hundred  miles  from 
Montreal  to  that  part  of  the  Ontario  Lake,  which  the  French  have  to  carry 
before  they  bring  them  to  the  same  place  from  Montreal,  besides  the  advan- 
tage which  the  English  have  in  the  price  of  their  goods. 

I  have  said,  that  when  we  are  in  Lake  Ontario,  we  are  upon  the  level  with 
the  French,  because  here  we  can  meet  with  all  the  Indians  that  design  to  go  to 
Montreal.  But  besides  this  passage  by  the  lakes,  there  is  a  river  which  comes 
from  the  country  of  the  Senecas,  and  falls  into  the  Onondaga  River,  by  which 
we  have  an  easy  carriage  into  that  country,  without  going  near  Lake  Ontario. 
The  head  of  this  river  goes  near  to  Lake  Erie,  and  probably  may  give  a  very 
near  passage  into  that  Lake,  much  more  advantageous  than  the  way  the 
French  are  obliged  to  take  by  the  great  fall  of  Niagara,  because  narrow  rivers 
are  much  safer  for  canoes  than  the  lakes,  where  they  are  obliged  to  go  ashore 
if  there  be  any  wind  upon  the  water.  But  as  this  passage  depends  upon  a 
further  discovery,  I  shall  say  nothing  more  of  it  at  this  time. 

Whoever  then  considers  these  advantages  New-York  has  of  Canada,  in  the 
first  buying  of  their  goods,  and  in  the  safe,  speedy,  and  cheap  transportation 
of  them  from  Britain  to  the  Lakes,  free  of  all  manner  of  duty  or  imposts,  will 
readily  agree  with  me,  that  the  traders  of  New- York  may  sell  their  goods  in 


240 


APPENDIX. 


the  Indian  countries  at  half  the  price  the  people  of  Canada  can,  and  reap 
twice  the  profit  they  do.  This  will  admit  of  no  dispute  with  those  that 
know  that  strouds,  the  staple  Indian  commodity,  this  year  are  sold  for  ten 
pounds  a  piece  at  Albany,  and  at  Montreal  for  twenty-five  pounds,  notwith- 
standing the  great  quantity  of  stcouds  said  to  be  brought  directly  into  Quebec 
from  France,  and  the  great  quantities  that  have  been  clandestinely  carried 
from  Albany.  It  cannot  therefore  be  denied  that  it  is  only  necessary  for  the 
traders  of  New-York  to  apply  themselves  heartily  to  this  trade,  in  order  to 
bring  it  wholly  into  their  own  hands  for  in  every  thing  besides  diligence, 
industry,  and  enduring  fatigues,  the  English  have  much  the  advantage  of  the 
French.  And  all  the  Indians  will  certainly  buy,  where  they  can  at  the  cheap- 
est rate. 

It  must  naturally  be  objected,  that  if  these  things  are  true,  how  is  it  possible 
that  the  traders  of  New- York  should  neglect  so  considerable  and  beneficial 
trade  for  so  long  time  ? 

In  answering  this  objection,  I  shall  show  the  difficulties  New-York  has 
laboured  under,  by  giving  a  short  history  of  the  country,  so  far  as  it  relates  to 
this  trade.  Which  method,  I  think,  can  be  liable  to  the  least  objection,  and 
put  the  whole  in  the  truest  light. 

When  this  country,  (the  province  of  New- York)  came  first  under  the  crown 
of  Great  Britain,  our  Five  Nations  of  Indians  were  mortal  enemies  of  the 
French  at  Canada,  and  were  in  a  continual  war  with  them,  and  all  the  nations 
of  Indians  round  the  lakes  ;  so  that  then  it  was  not  safe  for  the  English  to 
travel  further  than  the  countries  of  the  Five  Nations ;  nor  would  our  Indians 
permit  the  far  Indians,  with  whom  they  had  constant  war,  to  pass  through 
their  countries  to  Albany.  Besides,  the  Five  Nations  of  Indians  were  at  that 
time  so  numerous,  consisting  of  ten  times  the  number  of  fighting  men  they  now 
do,  that  the  trade  with  them  alone  was  very  considerable  for  so  young  and  small 
a  colony.  In  the  latter  end  of  king  Charles's  reign,  when  the  duke  of  York 
and  popish  councils  prevailed,  the  Governor  of  New-York,  who  was  likewise  a 
papist,  had  orders  to  use  all  his  endeavours  to  make  up  a  peace  between  our 
nations  (the  Iroquois)  and  the  French  ;  and  that  he  should  persuade  the  Five 
Nations  to  admit  French  priests  among  them,  in  order  to  civilize  them.  The 


APPENDIX. 


241 


consequence  of  which  was,  that  the  French  thereby  obtained  a  free  commerce 
upon  the  lakes,  and  obtained  leave  to  build  Cataraqui  Fort  upon  the  north  side 
of  Lake  Ontario,  and  have  two  vessels  of  force  upon  the  same  lake.  From  this 
time,  during  all  king  James's  reign,  the  French,  whenever  they  had  any 
differences  with  our  Five  Nations,  threatened  that  the  English  of  New- York 
would  join  with  them,  and  destroy  the  Five  Nations ;  by  which,  and  the  prac- 
tices of  the  French  priests,  our  Five  Nations  became  very  much  alienated  in 
their  affections  from  the  English,  and  looked  upon  them  as  a  people  depend- 
ing upon  the  French.  The  consequences  of  this  appeared  so  dangerous  to 
Colonel  Dungan,  the  Governor  of  New-York,  though,  as  I  have  said,  a  papist, 
that  he  again  and  again  complained  to  his  master  of  the  ill  offices  the  French 
priests  did  the  English  among  our  nations.  When  the  English  had  thus  pro- 
cured a  peace  for  the  French,  they  thought  they  might  justly  reap  some  advan- 
tage from  it;  and  it's  hardly  to  be  doubted  but  that  they  had  promises  of  that 
kind.  They  were  therefore  encouraged  to  send  forty  men,  with  great  quanti- 
ties of  goods,  into  the  lakes,  under  the  command  of  Major  Mc  Gregory,  to 
trade  with  the  far  nations.  At  this  time  Mr.  DenonviHe,  Governor  of  Canada, 
was  gathering  together  all  the  force  of  Canada,  and  of  the  Indians,  enemies  of 
the  Five  Nations,  in  order  to  surprise  the  Five  Nations  and  destroy  them, 
at  the  time  they  thought  themselves  secure  by  the  peace  so  lately  made. 
Major  M°  Gregory  and  his  company,  were  met  by  a  French  officer  on  Lake 
Erie,  coming  with  a  great  number  of  men  to  the  general  rendezvous  of  the 
French,  and  he,  with  all  the  English,  were  made  prisoners.  They  were  used 
with  such  severity  as  has  never  been  practised  between  Christian  nations  in 
open  war,  though  the  two  crowns  at  that  time  were  not  only  at  peace,  but 
under  the  strictest  ties  of  mutual  friendship  ;  for  the  French  used  these  people 
as  slaves  in  building  Cataraqui  fort,  and  a  poor  Frenchman  that  had  conducted 
them,  was  publicly  shot  to  death,  as  if  he  had  brought  an  enemy  into  their 
country.  Such  were  their  apprehensions  then  of  the  English  getting  any 
footing  among  the  Indians. 

The  French  Governor  surprised  a  village  of  the  Five  Nations,  who,  on  the 
French  faith,  lived  in  great  security  but  seven  or  eight  leagues  from  the  French 
fort,  and  sent  these  miserable  people  to  the  galleys  in  France.    He  afterwards 


242 


APPENDIX. 


fell  upon  the  Senecas,  and  burnt  their  villages,  but  without  any  advantage  to 
the  French,  they  having  lost  more  men  than  the  Indians  did.  This  renewed 
the  war  with  greater  fury  than  ever,  between  the  French  and  our  Indians. 
For  some  time  afterwards  our  Indians,  in  a  great  body,  fell  upon  the  island  of 
Montreal,  while  Mr.  Denonville  was  in  the  town.  They  burnt  and  destroyed 
all  the  villages  and  houses  round  Montreal,  and  killed  some  hundreds  of  men, 
women,  and  children.  Afterwards  they  came  into  the  open  fields  before 
Montreal,  and  there  defied  the  French  Governor,  who  did  not  think  it  proper 
to  fight  them.  And  when  they  had  done  all  the  mischief  they  could,  they 
retired  without  any  loss. 

About  this  time  the  revolution  happened  in  Great  Britain,  which  was  suc- 
ceeded by  a  war  between  Great  Britain  and  France.  In  February  1689 — 90, 
a  party  of  three  hundred  men,  consisting  of  equal  numbers  of  French  and 
Indians,  surprised  Schenectady  in  the  night-time,  when  the  poor  people  were 
in  their  beds,  in  the  greatest  security,  where  they  barbarously  murdered  sixty- 
three  men,  women,  and  children,  in  cold  blood,  laid  the  village  in  ashes,  and 
then  retired,  without  reaping  any  other  advantage  besides  this  cruel  revenge 
on  innocent  people,  for  the  mischief  our  Indians  had  done  them.  This  raised 
a  cruel  war  between  the  two  colonies,  in  which  there  was  much  mischief  done, 
and  blood  shed,  without  any  advantage  to  either  side. 

In  time  of  this  war,  the  most  Christian  king's  Governor  of  Canada  was  so 
much  provoked,  that  he  thought  fit  to  follow  the  example  of  our  barbarous 
Indians,  and  burn  his  Indian  prisoners  alive  in  the  most  cruel  manner,  in  sight 
of  all  the  inhabitants  of  Quebec,  and  to  deliver  up  the  English  prisoners  to 
the  French  Indians,  who  indeed  had  more  mercy,  for  they  killed  none  of 
them. 

King  William's  peace  put  an  end  to  this  war  ;  but  the  peace  lasted  so  short 
a  while,  that  the  people  of  this  province  hardly  had  time  to  re-settle  their  farms 
on  the  frontiers,  which  they  had  deserted  in  the  time  of  the  war,  much  less  to 
adventure  trading  in  the  Indian  countries,  so  lately  the  scene  of  so  much 
cruelty.  But  both  colonies  having  now  an  abhorrence  of  the  cruelties  of  the 
last  war,  agreed  on  a  kind  of  neutrality  for  the  Indians,  during  Queen  Anne's 
war,  in  which  time  we  lost  much  ground  with  our  own  Indians.    For  the 


APPENDIX. 


243 


French  having  learned,  by  dear  experience,  that  it  was  not  possible  for  them 
to  conquer  our  Five  Indian  Nations,  resolved  to  try  all  means  to  gain  their 
affections,  and  in  this  art  the  French  are  always  more  successful  than  in  that 
of  war  ;  and  the  English  failing  in  two  ill-concerted  expeditions  against 
Canada,  the  Indians  lost  much  of  the  opinion  they  had  of  the  English  power 
and  valour. 

In  time  of  this  last  war,  the  clandestine  trade  to  Montreal  began  to  be 
carried  on  by  Indians  from  Albany  to  Montreal.  This  gave  rise  to  the  Kah- 
nuaga,  or  Praying  Indians,  who  are  entirely  made  up  of  deserters  from  the 
Mohawks  and  river  Indians,  and  were  either  enticed  thither  by  the  French 
priests,  or  by  our  merchants,  in  order  to  carry  goods  from  Albany  to  Montreal, 
or  run  away  for  some  mischief  done  here.  These  Indians  now  consist  of 
about  eighty  fighting  men,  and  live  about  four  leagues  above  Montreal.  They 
neither  plant  nor  hunt,  but  depend  chiefly  upon  this  private  trade  for  their 
subsistence.  These  Indians,  in  time  of  war,  gave  the  French  intelligence  of 
all  designs  here  against  them.  By  them  likewise  the  French  engaged  our 
Five  Nations  in  a  war  with  the  Indians,  friends  of  Virginia,  and  from  them  we 
might  expect  the  greatest  mischief  in  time  of  war,  seeing  every  part  of  the 
province  is  as  well  known  to  them  as  to  any  of  the  inhabitants.  But  if  this 
trade  was  entirely  at  an  end,  we  have  reason  to  believe,  that  these  Indians 
would  return  to  their  own  tribes,  for  they  then  could  not  long  subsist  where 
they  now  are. 

As  soon  as  the  peace  was  proclaimed,  an  open  trade  with  Montreal  was 
carried  on  with  such  earnestness,  that  Montreal  was  filled  with  Indian  goods, 
and  Albany  exhausted ;  by  which  means  Montreal  became  the  principal,  if 
not  the  only  Indian  market,  and  the  Indians  depended  entirely  on  the  French 
for  what  they  wanted. 

Our  merchants  were  fond  of  the  Canada  trade,  because  they  sold  large 
quantities  of  goods  without  any  trouble,  the  French  taking  them  from  their 
doors  ;  whereas  the  trade  with  the  Indians  is  carried  on  with  a  great  deal  of 
toil  and  fatigue  ;  and  as  to  the  interest  of  the  country,  they  either  never  thought 
any  thing  about  it,  or  if  they  did,  had  no  regard  to  it. 

Now  I  have  brought  this  account  to  the  time  your  excellency  arrived  ;  what 


244 


APPENDIX. 


has  happened  since,  your  excellency  knows  better  than  I  can  by  any  means 
inform  you.  From  the  whole,  it  seems  plain  that  any  difficulties  and  disad- 
vantages this  province  has  been  under,  have  only  proceeded  from  the  wars, 
which  have  continued  since  the  first  settling  of  the  province,  to  the  beginning 
of  the  last  general  peace.  But  now,  that  not  only  this  province,  but  likewise 
our  Six  Nations  of  Indians  are  at  peace,  and  in  amity  both  with  the  French 
and  all  the  Indian  nations  with  whom  we  can  have  any  commerce,  these 
difficulties  are  all  removed,  and  we  now  enjoy  the  most  favourable  time,  that 
at  any  time  can  be  hoped  for,  in  order  to  extend  the  British  commerce  in 
North  America,  while  the  French  not  only  labour  under  the  difficulties  which 
I  have  shown  to  be  inseparable  from  the  situation  of  their  colony,  but  likewise 
under  another  disadvantage,  not  before  taken  notice  of,  by  the  fur  trade  of 
Canada  being  restrained  to  one  company.  This  company  is  obliged  to  pay 
heavy  duties  in  France  upon  the  importation  of  beaver  or  any  other  fur  ;  for 
which  reason  they  always  fix  a  price  upon  beaver  and  their  other  furs  in 
Canada ;  and  the  Indian  traders  of  Canada  being  restrained  from  selling  to 
any  but  the  company's  agents  there,  they  cannot  raise  the  price  of  Indian 
goods  as  the  price  of  European  rise,  or  as  their  profit  on  the  goods  they  sell 
to  the  Indians  is  lessened. 

The  merchants  of  New-York  allow  our  Indian  traders  double  the  price  for 
beaver,  that  the  French  company  allow  their  Indian  traders,  the  price  estab- 
lished by  the  company  for  beaver  in  Canada,  being  two  livres,  or  eighteen 
pence  sterling  the  pound  weight  ;  and  the  current  price  of  beaver  in  New- 
York  being  five  shillings  New-York  money,  or  three  shillings  sterling  the 
pound  weight.  Therefore  it  plainly  follows,  that  our  Indian  traders  could 
undersell  the  French  traders,  though  they  were  to  give  as  great  a  price  for 
European  goods  as  the  French  do,  and  did  transport  them  at  as  great  charge, 
because  of  the  double  price  they  have  for  their  furs  in  New-York. 

But  as  our  Indian  traders  not  only  have  a  double  price  for  their  Indian 
goods,  but  likewise  buy  the  goods  they  sell  to  the  Indians,  at  half  the  price 
the  French  Indian  traders  do,  the  French  traders  must  be  ruined  by  carrying 
on  this  trade,  in  competition  with  the  English  of  New- York.  And  the  French 
Indian  traders  had  been  ruined  before  now,  if  they  had  not  found  means  to 


APPENDIX. 


245 


carry  their  beaver  to  Albany,  where  they  got  double  the  price  they  must  have 
sold  for  in  Canada. 

It  may  be  objected  against  this  argument,  that  the  Canada  Company  as 
soon  as  they  find  that  the  traders  cannot  sell  at  their  established  price,  will 
allow  a  greater  price.  But  if  we  consider  the  duties  the  French  company  is 
obliged  to  pay  to  the  king,  they  cannot  allow  so  great  a  price  as  the  English 
can  at  New-York.  And  if  it  should  be  insisted,  that  the  French  company 
may  obtain  a  remission  of  those,  yet  if  the  clandestine  trade  with  Albany  be 
entirely  stopt,  the  French  traders  will  be  ruined  before  such  remission  can  be 
obtained,  and  their  trade  will  be  at  an  end. 

My  inclination  led  me  to  show  what  advantages  not  only  the  Indian  trade 
would  reap  by  extending  our  frontiers  as  far  as  the  lakes,  but  likewise  the 
British  trade  in  some  other  branches,  which  the  parliament  of  Great  Britain 
seem  to  have  much  at  heart,  viz.  naval  stores ;  for  the  soil  on  both  sides  of 
the  Mohawk  River  being  as  rich  as  it  is  possible,  I  believe,  for  any  land  to  be, 
will  be  found  the  most  proper  for  raising  of  hemp  of  any  part  of  America, 
and  the  whole  country  round  it  being  full  of  the  largest  pines,  the  royal  navy 
is  as  likely  to  be  well  provided  with  masts  there,  and  at  as  cheap  a  rate  as 
any  where  else.  But  I  have  already  too  far  presumed  on  your  excellency's 
patience. 

CADWALLADER  COL  DEN. 


Note  O.— p.  91. 

Entering  upon  the  subject  of  the  claims  of  the  late  Gouverneur  Morris  to 
the  honour  of  projecting  the  system  of  canal  navigation  which  has  been 
adopted  by  the  state  of  New-York,  I  freely  confess  that  the  first  impressions 
upon  my  mind  were  the  same  with  those  of  many  who  have  ascribed  to  him 
the  credit  of  having  been  the  first  to  suggest  the  interior  route,  by  a  direct 
canal  from  the  Hudson  to  Lake  Erie,  as  the  means  of  connecting  the  lakes 
with  the  ocean. 

29 


246 


APPENDIX. 


That  his  enlarged  and  early  views  of  the  improvement  and  extension  of 
the  navigation  of  the  western  waters  of  this  state,  may  have  indirectly  con- 
tributed to  the  great  achievement  which  has  been  effected,  is  not  to  be  doubt- 
ed ;  for  few  men  possessed  the  same  expanded  views  that  Mr.  Morris  enter- 
tained of  the  great  commercial  prospects  and  resources  of  his  native  country, 
or  possessed  the  talents  to  exhibit  them  to  his  fellow-citizens  with  equal 
eloquence  in  speech  or  in  his  written  communications.  Under  these  impres- 
sions, I  applied  to  Mrs.  Morris  for  the  purpose,  and  with  the  expectation  of 
obtaining  access  to  his  papers  relative  to  that  subject,  with  the  view  of  doing 
justice  to  his  memory  by  introducing  into  these  pages  the  testimonials  of  his 
merits  in  originating  the  canal  navigation  of  this  state,  and  of  discharging  a 
debt  of  gratitude  which  I  owe  to  that  distinguished  man,  and  which  I  shall 
ever  feel  and  acknowledge,  for  the  friendship  and  hospitality  with  which  he 
honoured  me  during  many  years.  Having  been  unsuccessful  in  my  applica- 
tion to  Mrs.  Morris,  who  intends  herself  to  publish  the  documents  left  by  her 
husband  upon  that  subject,  I  am  compelled  to  confine  myself  to  the  following 
papers,  some  of  which  have  already  appeared  before  the  public,  while  others 
have  been  obtained  from  the  friends  of  Mr.  Morris,  and  from  the  manuscripts 
left  by  the  late  Thomas  Eddy.  From  these  documents  it  will  appear  ques- 
tionable how  far  Mr.  Morris,  notwithstanding  his  conversation  with  Simeon 
De  Witt  in  1808,  and  with  Mr.  Brodhead  of  Utica,  had  prior  to  1810,  when 
he  was  appointed  one  of  the  canal  commissioners,  seriously  contemplated  any 
other  communication  between  the  Hudson  and  Lake  Erie,  than  by  the  cir- 
cuitous route  by  Oswego  and  Lake  Ontario,  as  distinctly  expressed  by  him 
in  his  subjoined  letter  to  General  Lee,  which  course  had  been  previously  de- 
signated by  the  bill  passed  by  the  legislature  in  1798,  for  opening  the  naviga- 
tion between  Lake  Erie  and  Lake  Ontario,  but  which  was  never  attempted  to 
be  carried  into  execution. 

Indeed,  it  will  be  seen,  that  as  early  as  the  year  1786,  it  had  been  proposed 
by  Jeffrey  Smith,  of  Long  Island,  to  extend  the  navigation,  if  practicable, 
from  the  Mohawk  to  Lake  Erie  (probably  intended  by  the  same  route  as  that 
afterwards  stated  by  Mr.  Morris,  by  way  of  Oswego  and  Lake  Ontario,)  and 


APPENDIX. 


247 


indeed  had  been  actively  and  repeatedly  discussed  in  the  legislature  during 
the  session  of  that  year. 

Being  informed  in  a  late  interview  with  Governor  Lewis,  that  he  had  held 
conversations  with  Mr.  Morris  relative  to  the  internal  navigation  of  this  state, 
as  early  as  the  year  1777,  and  that  in  a  communication  to  Hermanns  Bleecker, 
Esq.  to  whom  he  referred  me  for  the  same,  he  had  reduced  the  substance  of 
those  conversations  to  writing,  I  addressed  to  the  latter  gentleman  the  follow- 
ing note,  for  the  united  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  services  rendered  by  Mr. 
Bleecker  himself,  when  a  member  of  the  legislature,  during  the  discussion,  on 
the  canal  policy,  and  the  extent  and  validity  of  the  claims  of  Mr.  Morris  as 
the  first  projector  of  the  Erie  Canal. 

New- York,  Dec.  13th,  1828. 

Dear  Sir, 

Knowing  that  you  at  a  particular  period  took  an  active  concern  in  the 
support  of  the  measures  relative  to  the  canal  navigation  of  this  state,  and 
being  desirous  to  obtain  all  the  information  relative  to  it  from  the  individuals 
themselves,  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  in  my  appendix  to  the  Discourse  I 
am  about  to  publish,  in  relation  to  our  late  governor,  a  full  and  authentic 
history  of  the  origin,  progress,  and  completion  of  the  Erie  Canal,  I  write  to 
request  a  statement  of  the  particular  services  you  rendered  in  that  memorable 
work. 

I  also  write  to  obtain  from  you  the  copy  of  a  letter  written  to  you  by  Gov. 
Lewis,  upon  the  subject  of  Gouverneur  Morris's  claims  to  the  first  suggestion 
of  the  Erie  Canal.  Governor  Lewis  refers  me  to  you  for  that  paper.  Your 
compliance  with  my  wishes  will  enable  me  to  make  an  important  addition  to 
the  life  of  Mr.  Clinton  now  printing,  at  the  same  time  that  you  will  oblige 
your  friend 

DAVID  HOSACK. 

Hermanus  Bleecker,  Esq.  Albany. 

To  this  letter  Mr.  Bleecker  kindly  and  promptly  replied,  enclosing  the  com- 
munications I  had  solicited,  which  follow. 


248 


APPENDIX. 


Albany,  Dec.  23,  1828. 

Dear  Sir, 

I  have  received,  and  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  letter  of  the  13th 
instant. — I  very  soon  took  an  interest  in  "  the  measures,  relative  to  the  canal 
navigation  of  this  state,"  and  solicitously  watched  their  progress  ;  but  as  to 
my  "  particular  services  in  that  memorable  work,"  I  can  only  say,  that  I  ren- 
dered "  none  to  speak  of." 

Of  the  merit  of  the  late  Gouverneur  Morris  in  regard  to  the  canals,  I  have  a 
deep  impression.  I  witnessed  with  great  interest,  his  zeal  and  intelligence — 
his  efforts  to  inform  others — and  his  elevation  above  the  ignorance  and  pre- 
judice by  which  the  project  was  condemned  as  premature  and  chimerical. 

You  know  that  he  and  Mr.  Clinton  were  deputed  by  the  canal  commissioners 
to  attend  at  the  seat  of  the  general  government  for  the  purpose  of  procuring 
its  aid.  In  the  month  of  January,  1812,  they  appeared  before  a  committee  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  consisting  of  a  member  from  each  state,  and 
Mr.  Morris  made  a  grand  and  luminous  exposition  of  his  views  in  relation  to 
the  Erie  canal,  and  several  other  similar  projects  in  various  parts  of  the  United 
States. 

It  is  grateful  to  me,  now,  to  see  how  just  and  enlightened  his  views  were  ; 
and  to  think  how  much  he  was  in  advance  of  those  who  doubted,  those  who 
were  passive,  and  those  who  condemned  and  ridiculed  what  appeared  clear  to 
his  discerning  mind.  What  he  then  prophesied  is  now  history.  I  believe  all 
the  reports  made  by  the  commissioners  to  the  legislature  during  Mr.  Morris's 
life-time,  except  one,  were  drawn  by  him.  The  lofty  spirit  of  the  report  made 
in  March  1812,  has,  of  course,  excited  your  attention.  You  have  seen  his  letter 
to  Mr.  Parish  in  1800,  and  the  letter  of  Mr.  De  Witt  to  William  Darby,  writ- 
ten in  February  1822.  A  gentleman,  who  was  at  a  dinner  at  Washington  in 
1800,  has  informed  me  of  a  very  interesting  conversation,  in  which  Mr.  Morris, 
who  was  one  of  the  party,  spoke  of  the  Erie  Canal  as  a  matter  of  which  he 
had  long  thought.  It  seems  to  me  that  justice  has  not  been  done  to  his  memory. 


APPENDIX.  249 

I  send  you  herewith  copies  of  my  letter  to  Governor  Lewis,  and  his 
answer. 

I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

H.  BLEECKER. 

David  Hosack,  M.D. 


Letter  from  Hermanns  Bleccker,  Esq.  to  Morgan  Lewis,  Esq. 

Albany,  May  12th,  1828. 

Dear  Sir, 

I  think  it  is  due  to  the  memory  of  the  late  Gouverneur  Morris,  that 
something  should  be  done  to  preserve  the  evidence  of  the  conversation  he  had 
with  you  anchGeneral  Schuyler,  at  Saratoga,  during  the  revolutionary  war,  on 
the  subject  of  the  canal  between  the  lakes  and  the  Hudson.  I  hope  you  will 
excuse  my  making  this  suggestion. 

If  you  see  no  objection  to  give  such  an  account  of  that  conversation  as 
may  be  preserved,  you  will  of  course  adopt  such  a  mode  of  doing  it,  as  seems 
most  proper  to  you.  If  no  better  way  occurs  to  you,  it  may  be  in  a  letter  to 
me.  Having  had  an  opportunity  of  knowing  much  of  Mr.  Morris's  zeal  and 
intelligence  on  the  subject  of  the  canal,  I  have  a  much  stronger  sense  of  his 
merit  and  services,  in  regard  to  that  work,  than  seems  to  be  now  generally 
entertained.  In  saying  this,  I  am  not  conscious  of  a  disposition  to  detract  in 
the  slightest  degree  from  the  fair  claims  and  reputation  of  any  other  person. 

I  am,  Sir,  with  great  respect, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

II.  BLEECKER. 

Morgan  Lewis,  Esq. 


250 


APPENDIX. 


Staatsburgh,  May  26th,  1828. 

Dear  Sir, 

On  my  arrival  at  this  place,  from  the  city  of  New- York,  I  found  your 
favour  of  the  12th  inst.  requesting  information  as  to  the  early  opinion  of  the 
late  Gouverneur  Morris,  on  the  subject  of  a  canal  communication  between  the 
waters  of  Lake  Erie,  and  those  of  the  river  Hudson.  In  compliance  with 
which  I  present  you  the  following  statement. 

After  the  evacuation  of  Ticonderoga,  in  1777,  the  scattered  forces  of  the 
army  cf  the  north  having  concentrated  at  Fort  Edward,  Mr.  Morris  arrived 
at  General  Schuyler's  head-quarters,  on  a  mission  from  the  committee  of 
general  safety,  of  this  state,  to  inquire  into  and  report  the  actual  state  of  the 
military  force  in  that  quarter.  During  the  time  he  remained  with  us,  which 
was  several  days,  he  quartered  in  the  same  house  with  the  General  and  my- 
self. Our  evenings  were  usually  passed  together,  and  the  state  of  our  affairs 
generally  the  subject  of  conversation. 

Mr.  Morris,  whose  temperament  admitted  of  no  alliance  with  despondency, 
even  in  the  most  gloomy  periods  of  the  war,  with  which  our  then  situation 
might  justly  be  classed ;  never  doubting  the  ultimate  triumph  of  our  arms, 
and  the  consequent  attainment  of  our  independence,  frequently  amused  us  by 
descanting  with  great  energy  on  what  he  termed  "  the  rising  glories  of  the 
western  world."  One  evening  in  particular,  while  describing  in  the  most 
animated  and  glowing  terms,  the  rapid  march  of  the  useful  arts  through  our 
country,  when  once  freed  from  a  foreign  yoke  ;  the  spirit  with  which  agricul- 
ture and  commerce,  both  internal  and  external,  would  advance ;  the  facilities 
which  would  be  afforded  them  by  the  numerous  watercourses  intersecting  our 
country,  and  the  ease  with  which  they  might  be  made  to  communicate  ;  he 
announced  in  language  highly  poetic,  and  to  which  I  cannot  do  justice,  that 
at  no  very  distant  day,  the  waters  of  the  great  western  inland  seas,  would,  by 
the  aid  of  man,  break  through  their  barriers  and  mingle  with  those  of  the 
Hudson. 


APPENDIX. 


251 


I  recollect  asking  him  how  they  were  to  break  through  these  barriers  ?  To 
which  he  replied,  that  numerous  streams  passed  them  through  natural  chan- 
nels, and  that  artificial  ones  might  be  conducted  by  the  same  routes. 

This  object,  it  appears,  was  a  favourite  with  him,  and  one  of  which  he  never 
lost  sight.  In  1810,  he  came  to  Albany  for  the  express  purpose  of  engaging, 
if  possible,  the  legislature  in  his  plans  for  its  attainment ;  and  as  an  induce- 
ment, showed  that,  previous  to  his  departure  from  Europe,  he  had  secured, 
conditionally,  a  loan  of  five  millions  to  aid  in  their  execution.  While  in 
Albany  he  lodged  in  the  same  house  with  me,  reminded  me  of  the  circum- 
stances I  have  related,  informed  me  of  the  motives  of  his  visit  to  the  seat  of 
government,  and  at  his  request  I  accompanied  him  to  the  lodgings  of  Mr. 
Clinton,  Generals  Piatt  and  Hall,  who  were  at  that  time,  with  myself,  members 
of  the  senate.  These  gentlemen  engaged  with  zeal  in  the  project  ;  and  the 
ardour  and  perseverance  with  which  the  first  named  of  them  pursued  it  to  its 
final  accomplishment,  will  never  fail  to  do  him  honour,  and  to  place  him  in  the 
first  rank  of  meritorious  citizens.  Nor  has  he,  as  I  believe,  on  any  occasion, 
done  injustice  to  Mr.  Morris,  by  claiming  to  have  been  himself  the  original 
projector. 

I  am,  Sir,  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

MORGAN  LEWIS. 

H.  Bleecker,  Esq. 


The  following  letter  from  Gouverneur  Morris,  which  was  addressed  to  his 
friend  Mr.  John  Parish,  then  of  Hamburgh,  will  be  read  with  deep  interest, 
not  only  as  it  regards  the  object  for  which  it  is  here  introduced,  but  as  ex- 
hibiting a  glowing  picture  of  our  country,  and  as  a  splendid  specimen  of  the 
descriptive  talents  of  the  author. 

The  letter  which  will  be  found  in  our  columns  t^day,  (says  the  editor  of  the 
American,  in  which  it  was  first  published,)  is  fronNhe  pen  of  the  late  Gou- 
verneur Morris.    It  is  interesting  as  a  picture  of  parts  of  our  state  five  and 


252 


APPENDIX. 


twenty  years  ago,  and  still  more,  as  abounding  in  glorious  anticipations  for  our 
common  country,  which,  glowing  as  they  were,  reality  has  already  surpassed. 
But  there  is  one  passage  in  particular  in  it,  which,  at  this  precise  moment 
should  be  remarked,  as  entitling  his  name  to  no  obscure  notice,  in  the  cere- 
monial of  celebrating  the  completion  of  that  channel  between  the  lakes  and 
the  ocean,  which,  standing  on  the  borders  of  Lake  Erie  twenty-five  years  ago, 
and  when  all  around  or  between  was  comparatively  a  wilderness,  he  so  confi- 
dently predicted.  "  Shall  I  (he  exclaims  to  his  correspondent)  lead  your  as- 
tonishment to  the  verge  of  incredulity  ?  I  will  :  know  then,  that  one-tenth 
of  the  expense  borne  by  Britain  in  the  last  campaign,  would  enable  ships  to 
sail  from  London  through  Hudson's  river  into  Lake  Erie."  The  ship  channel 
indeed  is  not  there,  but  the  magnificent  idea  is  nevertheless  verified,  and  a 
water  communication  exists  from  London  through  the  Hudson  river  to  Lake 
Erie. 

Washington,  Dec.  20, 1S00. 

My  dear  Friend, 
I  have  before  me  unanswered,  your  kind  letters  of  the  3d  April,  6th  July, 
and  11th  September.  I  find  you  have  been  much  a  traveller  last  summer.  I 
too  have  been  one,  but  through  countries  from  whence  I  could  not  write,  and 
in  which  I  received  no  letters.  In  July  last,  I  left  home  to  visit  some  property 
of  my  own,  and  some  which  was  confided  to  my  care  by  others,  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  state  of  New-York.  I  went  by  way  of  Albany,  the  Lakes  George 
and  Champlain  to  Montreal.  After  partaking  for  some  days  of  the  festive 
hospitality  of  that  place,  we  took  boat  and  went  up  the  St.  Lawrence  to  Lake 
Ontario,  and  along  the  south  side  of  that  lake  to  Niagara ;  thence  by  land  to 
Lake  Erie,  and  so  back  again.  This  jaunt  consumed  so  much  time,  that  I 
could  not  reach  my  own  house  until  a  few  days  of  the  period  I  was  bound  to 
come  hither,  and  in  those  days  could  scarcely  get  through  the  business  which 
lay  upon  me.  Since  my  arrival  at  this  place,  I  have  been,  and  still  continue 
incessantly  occupied. 

If  I  thought  description  would  convey  an  accurate  idea  of  what  I  saw 
during  this  excursion,  I  would  attempt  to  paint  objects  which  must  be  seen  to 


APPENDIX. 


253 


be  understood.  Hudson's  river  differs  from  your  Elbe  in  every  feature  except 
the  breadth  ;  near  two  miles  wide  at  New-York,  it  swells  by  degrees  into  a 
lake  of  six  miles  before  you  reach  the  mountains  called  the  Highlands,  which 
are  forty  miles  from  the  city.  The  western  shore  is  for  thirty  miles  a  high 
and  perpendicular  rock ;  the  eastern  consists  of  lofty  hills,  variegated  with 
forests,  orchards,  cottages,  corn-fields,  and  pasture  ;  in  short,  it  displays  every 
thing  which  can  render  a  country  at  once  grand  and  beautiful.  The  river, 
generally  straight,  is  in  its  passage  through  the  mountains,  forced  to  serpen- 
tine by  jutting  promontories.  These  are  high,  steep,  and  abrupt,  where  pen- 
dent rocks  frown  upon  the  passenger.  Like  your  Grampians,  they  are  huge 
masses  of  granite,  and  in  some  parts,  like  them,  their  breasts  lie  bare  to  the 
blast  ;  but  in  general  they  are  clothed  with  luxuriant  foliage.  After  a  pro- 
gress of  twenty  miles  through  this  range  of  mountains,  you  open  on  a  wide 
sheet  of  water,  extending  nearly  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  with  a  breadth 
of  about  two  miles  ;  and  you  see  at  a  distance  on  your  left,  the  head  of  the 
Alleghany.  On  your  right  is  a  continuation  of  the  mountains  you  have 
passed,  which  stretching,  under  various  names,  through  Vermont  and  along 
the  bounds  of  Lower  Canada,  terminate  at  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.  As 
you  ascend  towards  Albany,  you  pass  two  other  ridges,  beginning  each  at  the 
distance  of  10  or  1'2  miles  from  the  west  bank  of  the  river.  The  valleys  be- 
tween these  ridges  extend  southward  to  the  Bay  of  Mexico.  They  are  varied 
by  hills  and  watered  by  many  streams,  no  one  of  which,  except  the  Hudson, 
is  navigable  (except  by  flat-bottomed  boats)  up  to  much  less  beyond  the  first 
or  south-easternmost  range. 

About  thirty  miles  to  the  southward  of  Albany,  you  have  already  turned  the 
third  range,  which  is  the  head  of  the  Alleghany,  called  at  that  place  the  Blue 
Mountains,  and  the  Katskill  hill ;  for  the  English  have  rendered  by  the  word 
hill,  the  Dutch  word  bcrgh  ;  and  the  stream  or  kill  which  runs  from  them,  was 
anciently  infested  by  panthers  and  the  large  wild  cat.  As  you  approach 
Albany,  the  features  of  the  scene  begin  to  soften  ;  the  shores  are  neither  so 
high  nor  so  steep,  and  at  length,  sailing  among  rich  meadows  and  islands,  you 
reach  that  city,  which  is  1G0  miles  from  New-York.  Something  more  than 
sixty  miles  further  north  is  the  south  end  of  Lake  George.    In  riding  up- 

30 


254 


APPENDIX. 


wards  from  Albany,  along  the  Hudson,  you  pass  over  some  fine  land,  well  cul- 
tivated, and  in  crossing  by  a  bridge,  the  mouth  of  the  Mohawk  river,  you  see, 
at  less  than  half  a  mile,  the  great  Cahoos  Falls,  of  above  seventy  feet  perpen- 
dicular height,  over  which  tumbles  a  river  as  large  as  the  Elbe  at  Wirtemberg. 
At  a  place  called  Fort  Edward,  you  see  the  Hudson,  a  stream  still  more  copi- 
ous, precipitate  itself  over  a  cataract  nearly  as  high  ;  and  about  five  miles 
farther  on,  you  have  the  view  of  another  cataract  in  the  river,  called  Glen's 
Falls,  whose  features  are  still  more  rough  and  bold.  After  leaving  Hudson's 
river  at  this  place,  and  passing  over  a  plain  of  a  few  miles,  you  ascend  some 
hills  of  moderate  height,  and  from  the  top  of  the  last  behold  Lake  George, 
which,  at  about  ten  or  twelve  miles  from  its  southern  extremity,  is  divided  into 
two  parts — the  one  called  the  northwest  bay,  bends  off  to  the  westward  ;  and 
the  other,  which  is  the  main  lake,  stretches  along  in  a  northern  direction.  At 
the  upper,  or  southern  end,  this  lake  is  from  six  to  eight  miles  wide,  but,  after 
a  dozen  miles  it  becomes  narrower,  and  is  sprinkled  with  islands  of  rocks, 
covered  with  trees,  for  ten  or  twelve  miles,  and  opens  again  to  a  sheet  of 
water  of  three  or  four  miles ;  after  which,  turning  short  between  the  points  of 
two  mountains  of  solid  rock,  it  seeks  its  issue  over  cataracts  into  Lake  Cham- 
plain.  The  shores  of  Lake  George  are  bold,  chiefly  mountainous,  frequently 
steep,  sometimes  perpendicular  ;  and  although  these  mountains  are  not  so 
high  as  the  Alps,  the  lake  is,  on  the  whole,  a  finer  object  than  that  of  Geneva, 
because  it  combines  better  the  sublime  with  the  beautiful,  and  far  exceeds  in 
the  variety  and  richness  of  natural  scenery.  Its  whole  length  is  above  thirty 
miles  -,  the  water  is  deep,  pellucid,  of  a  bright  green  ;  but  on  the  sandy  beach, 
a  liquid  crystal.  It  is  difficult  which  most  to  admire,  the  abundance  or  ex- 
cellence of  the  fish.  Among  these,  the  trout  and  perch,  called  by  the  Dutch 
name  of  barsch  or  bass,  are  most  eminent.  In  crossing  the  lake,  I  took  with 
a  trolling  line,  above  fifty,  of  various  sizes,  from  half  a  pound  to  one  pound, 
and  one  of  five  pounds  weight.  A  walk  of  two  miles  from  the  landing  place, 
at  the  lower  end  of  Lake  George,  brings  you  to  the  landing  place  below,  and 
you  go  thence,  by  a  short  river,  two  or  three  miles,  to  Ticonderoga  or  Lake 
Champlain.  Here  the  scenery  is  totally  different ;  the  water  is  turbid  ;  the 
shores  of  moderate  heights  rise  gently,  and  are  cultivated.  At  a  distance  on 


APPENDIX. 


255 


each  side  there  are  high  and  waving  mountains  ;  after  passing  Crown  Point 
there  is  some  mountain  on  the  western  shore  before  we  reach  the  split  rock  : 
until  that  point  the  lake  varies  in  width  from  one  to  three  miles,  but  swells 
there  to  nine  or  ten.  The  shores  are  fine,  the  land  rich,  and  in  rapid  improve- 
ment ;  there  are  good  houses,  handsome  villages,  and  many  vessels  sailing  to 
and  fro.  This  point  of  the  lake  is  sometimes  rough,  but  when  we  reach  Cum- 
berland Head,  it  is  confined  by  large  fertile  islands  within  less  extensive  and 
more  pleasing  limits.  The  water  also  having  had  time  to  subside,  becomes 
more  pure.  The  mountains  retire  to  the  right  and  left,  and  before  we  reach 
the  outlet  of  the  lake,  which  is  about  one  hundred  miles  from  Ticonderoga, 
we  are  already  on  the  great  northern  plain,  which,  beginning  at  Quebec, 
extends  above  one  thousand  miles  southwest,  west,  and  northwest,  with 
scarcely  any  thing  on  it  that  deserves  the  name  of  a  hill.  Towards  the  outlet 
of  the  lake,  near  St.  Johns,  the  shores  are  low  and  marshy. 

The  usual  route  from  St.  Johns  is  sixteen  miles  to  the  ferry  at  La  Prairie, 
a  village  where  every  thing  is  as  much  French  as  within  a  league  of  Paris. 
There  the  Saint  Lawrence  is  crossed  obliquely  to  Montreal,  shooting  a  fall  in 
the  way :  from  Montreal  we  go  by  land  a  few  miles  to  La  Chine,  to  avoid 
some  difficult  and  shoal  rapids,  and  then  embark  in  a  batteau  managed  by 
five  men.  From  this  place  to  Lake  Ontario  is  one  hundred  and  seventy-five 
miles :  some  part  of  the  distance  the  current  is  almost  imperceptible,  but  in 
general  it  is  swift,  and  frequently  so  rapid,  that  its  waves  are  like  those  of  the 
sea ;  so  indeed  are  its  waters,  which  are  of  a  bright  sea  green,  and  of  won- 
derful transparency.  In  a  calm  on  Lake  Ontario,  I  let  down  a  stone  not  so 
large  as  my  fist,  and  saw  it  from  the  side  of  a  batteau,  above  thirty  feet  below 
the  surface.  The  source  of  the  St.  Lawrence  is  one  vast  congeries  of  lakes. 
Ontario,  the  smallest  of  them,  is  unfathomable,  and  has  a  length  of  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles  with  a  breadth  of  fifty.  The  river  flows  out  of  this  lake, 
and  has  therefore  the  advantage  of  being  always  full  and  of  never  overflowing 
its  banks.  Let  me  add  here,  that  there  is  a  brilliancy  in  our  atmosphere,  you 
can  have  no  idea  of  except  by  going  to  Italy,  or  else  by  viewing  one  of  Claude 
Lorraine's  best  landscapes,  and  persuading  yourself  that  the  light  there  exhi- 
bited, is  a  just  though  faint  picture  of  nature.    The  borders  of  Lake  Saint 


256 


APPENDIX. 


Francis,  so  called  because  the  river  expands  itself  there  to  a  breadth  of  five 
or  six  miles,  and  has  but  a  gentle  current,  are  chiefly  low  ;  all  the  rest  are  of 
an  agreeable  height.  The  width  of  the  river  is  various.  Seventy  miles  from 
Lake  Ontario  it  is  about  two  miles  wide,  and  deep  enough  for  the  largest  ship, 
which  may  sail  from  thence  to  Niagara.  In  approaching  the  lake  it  is  wider, 
but  does  not  appear  so,  being  filled  with  islands,  of  which  there  are,  it  is  said, 
one  thousand.  There  are  also  islands,  and  some  of  them  considerable,  in  the 
hundred  miles  which  extend  from  the  first  rapid  down  to  Montreal.  I 
believe  there  is  much  more  water  in  this  river  than  in  the  Danube  at  Vienna. 
Of  the  rapids  I  can  say  nothing  ;  each  differs  from  the  other,  and  all  from  every 
thing  of  the  kind  I  ever  beheld.  Still  less  can  I  pretend  to  convey  to  you  the 
sentiments  excited  by  a  view  of  the  lake.  It  is  to  all  purposes  of  human  vision 
an  ocean,  the  same  majestic  motion  in  its  billows.  More  delightful  situations 
for  country  seats  there  are  not  in  the  world,  than  those  which  lie  on  the  Saint 

Lawrence  and  a  bay  called  ,  at  the  mouth  of  the  lake,  where  too  are  such 

fish  as  can  be  met  with  no  where  else.  A  man  who  has  not  been  on  these 
waters,  cannot  be  said  ever  to  have  tasted  an  eel.  They  have  also  three 
species  of  pike  ;  one  like  that  of  Europe  goes  by  the  same  name  ;  another  of 
brighter  scales  and  broader,  called  by  the  English  pickerel  and  by  the  French 
poisson  dore,  is  much  better;  but  the  best  of  all,  called  by  the  Indian  tribes 
Maskinonge,  is  of  a  shorter  make,  particularly  about  the  head,  and  of  enor- 
mous size,  viz.  from  twelve  to  thirty  pounds.  Salmon  is  also  abundant,  and 
so  is  the  large  lake  trout.  The  game  is  of  various  kinds  and  excellent.  In 
coasting  along  the  smooth  sides  of  Lake  Ontario,  the  scene  always  vast,  has 
too  much  sameness ;  but  I  must  not  omit  to  mention,  that  we  dipt  up  water 
from  the  surface,  and  found  it  cool  even  in  our  midsummer.  This  circumstance 
combines  with  many  others,  to  show  that  the  large  lakes  are  all  fed  by 
springs ;  and  men  of  credit  assure  me  that  in  ascending  them,  their  waters 
become  more  limpid  ;  so  that  a  man  would  think  that  of  Ontario  warm  and 
foul  when  compared  with  the  coldness  and  purity  of  Lake  Superior,  whose 
circumference  is  more  than  1500  miles.  After  one  day's  repose  at  Niagara, 
we  went  to  view  the  Falls.  To  form  a  faint  idea  of  the  cataract,  imagine  to 
yourself  the  Frith  of  Forth  rush  wrathfully  down  a  deep  descent,  leap  foaming, 


APPENDIX. 


257 


over  a  perpendicular  rock  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet  high,  then 
flow  away  in  the  semblance  of  milk  from  a  vast  basin  of  emerald. — 
Proceeding  from  the  Falls  towards  Lake  Erie,  along  the  bank  of  Niagara 
river,  the  contrast  is  complete.  A  quiet,  gentle  stream  laves  the  shores 
of  a  country  level  and  fertile.  Along  the  banks  of  this  stream,  which  by  rea- 
son of  islands  in  it,  appears  to  be  of  moderate  size,  we  proceed  to  Fort  Erie. 
Here  again  the  boundless  waste  of  waters  fills  the  mind  with  renewed  asto- 
nishment ;  and  here,  as  in  turning  a  point  of  wood,  the  lake  broke  on  my  view, 
I  saw  riding  at  anchor  nine  vessels,  the  least  of  them  100  tons.  Can  you 
bring  your  imagination  to  realize  this  scene  ?  Does  it  not  seem  like  magic  ? 
Yet  this  magic  is  but  the  early  effort  of  victorious  industry.  Hundreds  of  large 
ships  will  in  no  distant  period  bound  on  the  billows  of  those  inland  seas.  At 
this  point  commences  a  navigation  of  more  than  a  thousand  miles.  Shall  I 
lead  your  astonishment  to  the  verge  of  incredulity  ?  I  will :  know  then,  that 
one-tenth  of  the  expense  borne  by  Britain  in  the  last  campaign,  would  enable 
ships  to  sail  from  London  through  Hudson's  River  into  Lake  Erie.  As  yet, 
my  friend,  we  only  crawl  along  the  outer  shell  of  our  country.  The  interior 
excels  the  part  we  inhabit  in  soil,  in  climate,  in  every  thing.  The  proudest 
empire  in  Europe  is  but  a  bauble  compared  to  what  America  ivill  be,  must  be, 
in  the  course  of  two  centuries,  perhaps  of  one.  If  with  a  calm  retrospect  to 
the  progress  made  within  forty  years,  we  stand  on  the  firm  ground  of  calcula- 
tions warranted  by  experience,  and  look  forward  to  the  end  of  a  similar  period, 
imagination  shrinks  from  the  magnitude  of  rational  deduction. 

Forty  years  ago  all  America  could  not,  without  bills  of  credit,  raise  100,000 
dollars,  to  defend  themselves  against  an  enemy  at  their  doors.  Now,  in  pro- 
found peace,  the  taxes  bring  into  the  treasury,  without  a  strain  or  effort,  above 
10,000,000  dollars.  In  the  year  1760,  there  was  not  perhaps  10,000  dollars  of 
specie  in  this  country  :  at  present,  the  banks  of  Philadelphia  alone  have  above 
ten  millions  to  dispose  of  beyond  the  demand.  I  heard  it  remarked  many 
years  ago  as  wonderful,  that  in  the  year  1760,  there  were  in  privateers,  sailing 
from  America,  as  many  seamen  as  there  had  been  on  board  the  royal  navy  of 
Elizabeth.  Is  it  less  wonderful  that  our  present  tonnage  should  be  equal  to 
that  of  the  whole  British  dominions  at  the  accession  of  George  the  second  ? 


258 


APPENDIX. 


If  pausing  thus  at  particular  periods  to  collect  the  facts,  we  are  already  sur- 
prised, how  shall  we  control  our  amazement,  when  those  facts  are  applied  in 
the  course  of  just  reasoning  ?  This  country  advances  not  in  direct,  but  in 
compound  ratio ;  which  is  more  than  duplicate,  and  accumulating  without 
adverting  to  the  principles  of  this  accelerating  progression :  ascertain  facts, 
and  for  that  purpose  divide  the  last  forty  years  into  four  periods,  then  suppos- 
ing the  ratio  were  duplicate,  a  revenue  of  10,000,000  in  1800  will  give  for 
1790,  5,000,000  dollars,  for  1780,  two  millions  and  a  half,  for  1770  one  million 
and  a  quarter,  and  for  1760,  five-eighths  of  a  million.  But  in  speculations 
of  this  sort,  it  is  more  proper  to  take  periods  of  twenty  years,  so  as  to  obviate 
fluctuations  from  accidental  causes.  If  then  half  a  million  be  assumed  as  the 
utmost  which  could  have  been  raised  in  1760,  that  sum  multiplied  by  four 
gives  two  millions  for  1780,  which  multiplied  by  five  gives  ten  millions  for 
1800.  On  going  backward  and  dividing  first  by  3,  Ave  have  160,000  dollars 
for  1740,  and  then  by  2,  we  have  80,000  dollars  for  the  year  1720, — the  era  of 
the  South  Sea  bubble.  Now  then,  if  we  go  forward,  not  with  sextuple,  but 
merely  with  quadruple  ratio,  for  more  periods  of  20  years,  beginning  with 
2,000,000  pounds  sterling,  we  have  for  1820,  8,000,000  pounds  ;  and  for  1840, 
more  than  thirty  millions  sterling  of  revenue,  raised  from  a  population  which 
may  then  amount  to  near  30,000,000  of  souls.  This  indeed  seems  impossible; 
but  did  it  not  seem  equally  impossible,  at  the  close  of  the  seven  years1  war, 
that  the  nett  revenue  of  British  America  should  exceed  2,000,000  pounds  ster- 
ling by  the  end  of  the  century  ?  Had  this  been  asserted  on  the  exchange  of 
London  in  the  year  1760,  would  it  not  have  been  laughed  at  in  1780  ?  But 
whither  am  I  going?  I  meant,  in  the  time  I  steal,  merely  to  answer  your 
letters  now  lying  before  me. 

Many  thanks  for  what  you  tell  me  about  your  family,  and  about  our  friends; 

remember  me  affectionately  to  them,  and  present  my  respects  to  Lord  , 

when  you  see  him.  If  you  were  on  this  side  the  water,  I  should  greatly 
rejoice  ;  and  (whatever  you  might  do)  your  grand-children  would  have  great 
reason  to  rejoice.  But  you  wonH  come — you  will  shiver  along  through  Ger- 
man and  Scotch  summers,  consoling  yourself  for  the  tediousness  of  June,  by 
the  long,  snug,  comfortable  evenings  of  January.    You  tell  me,  my  friend, 


APPENDIX. 


259 


that  I  must  join  you,  and  particularly  must  take  up  my  residence  in  London. 
But  have  you  reflected  that  there  is  more  of  real  society  in  one  week  at  Nien- 
steden,  than  in  a  London  year  1  Recollect  that  a  tedious  morning,  a  great 
dinner,  a  boozy  afternoon,  and  a  dull  evening,  make  the  sum  total  of  English 
life.  It  is  admirable  for  young  men  who  shoot,  hunt,  drink,  and  — ;  but  for 
us  !  how  are  we  to  dispose  of  ourselves?  Now  were  I  to  give  you  a  rendez- 
vous in  Europe,  it  should  be  on  the  continent.  I  respect,  as  you  know,  the 
English  nation  highly,  and  love  many  individuals  among  them,  but  I  do  not 
love  their  manners.  They  are  perhaps  too  pure,  but  they  certainly  are  too 
cold  for  my  taste.  The  Scotch  arc  more  agreeable  to  me;  but  were  the 
manners  of  those  countries  as  pleasant  as  the  people  are  respectable,  I  should 
never  be  reconciled  to  their  summers.  Compare  the  uninterrupted  warmth 
and  splendour  of  America,  from  the  first  of  May  to  the  last  of  September, 
and  her  autumn  truly  celestial,  with  your  shivering  June,  July,  and  August, 
sometimes  warm,  but  often  wet ;  your  uncertain  September,  your  gloomy 
October,  and  your  damnable  November.  Compare  these  things,  and  then 
say,  how  a  man  who  prizes  the  charms  of  nature,  can  think  of  making  the 
exchange.  If  you  were  to  pass  one  autumn  with  us,  you  would  not  give  it 
for  the  best  six  months  to  be  found  in  any  other  country,  unless  indeed  you 
should  get  tired  of  fine  weather. 

You  are  at  this  time  tired  of  my  letter,  so  at  length  I  bid  you  adieu. — God 
bless  you. 

GOUVERNEUR  MORRIS. 


In  the  pamphlet  referred  to,  entitled  Facts  and  Observations  in  relation 
to  the  origin  and  completion  of  the  Erie  Canal,  in  which  the  author  claims 
for  Mr.  Morris  the  credit  of  giving  origin  to  the  western  canal,  the  writer 
makes  the  following  remarks: 

"In  the  year  1799,  Mr.  Gouverneur  Morris  returned  from  Europe,  where  he 
had  been  employed  as  minister  plenipotentiary  from  the  United  States  to 
France,  and  in  other  important  and  confidential  situations.  In  the  year  1800 
he  made  a  visit  to  the  falls  of  Niagara  and  Lake  Erie,  and  first  conceived  the 


260 


APPENDIX. 


gigantic  plan  of  bringing  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie  into  the  Hudson,  which 
when  completed  in  the  manner  he  contemplated,  will  be  justly  considered  one 
of  the  greatest  undertakings  ever  performed  by  the  exertions  of  a  free  people, 
uninfluenced  by  the  commands  of  despotic  authority. 

"  Mr.  G.  Morris,  returning  from  the  above  mentioned  visit  to  the  falls  of 
Niagara  and  Lake  Erie,  communicated  his  plan  to  several  persons,  from  whom 
he  expected  he  might  obtain  information  on  the  subject ;  among  others  to  Mr. 
Charles  C.  Brodhead,  then  an  intelligent  land-surveyor  at  Utica,  who  has 
since  been  employed  as  one  of  the  engineers  of  the  Erie  Canal.  Mr.  Morris 
inquired  of  him  if  he  could  estimate  the  probable  height  of  the  summit  level 
of  the  country  between  Lake  Erie  and  the  Hudson:  on  Mr.  Brodhead's 
answering  in  the  negative,  and  inquiring  the  reason  of  the  question,  Mr.  G. 
Morris  stated  that  he  was  desirous  of  information,  in  relation  to  a  plan  he 
had  of  an  immense  inland  navigation,  by  bringing  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie 
into  the  Hudson.  On  Mr.  Brodhead's  expressing  his  surprise  at  the  magni- 
tude of  the  project,  doubting  its  feasibility  and  practicability,  and  treating 
it  as  visionary,  Mr.  G.  Morris  assured  him  that  he  would  live  to  see  the  day, 
when  this  communication  would  be  effected.  Mr.  Brodhead's  is  now  living 
at  Utica. 

"  Simeon  De  Witt,  Esq.  surveyor  general  of  the  state,  a  gentleman  of  uni- 
versally acknowledged  merit,  who  has  held  that  office  uninterruptedly  through 
all  the  various  changes  of  parties,  for  above  forty  years,  states  '  that  the  merit 
of  first  starting  the  idea  of  a  direct  communication  by  water  between  Lake 
Erie  and  Hudson  River,  unquestionably  belongs  to  Mr.  Gouverneur  Morris.'" 
The  following  are  Mr.  De  Witt's  observations  on  this  subject.* 
Soon  after  the  revolutionary  war,  the  attention  of  our  legislature  was  drawn 
to  the  improvement  of  the  internal  navigation  of  the  state,  and  two  companies 
were  incorporated  for  the  purpose,  viz.  the  Northern,  and  Western  Inland 
Lock  Navigation  Companies.  With  respect  to  the  latter,  the  views  of  its 
patrons  evidently  did  not  extend  further  than  to  the  improvement  of  natural 


*  See  New- York  Canals,  vol.  i.  p.  38. 


APPENDIX. 


261 


streams,  and  the  making  of  short  canals  and  locks  to  pass  difficult  or 
unnavigable  places,  such  as  the  Little  Falls  on  the  Mohawk  River,  the 
communication  between  that  river  and  the  Wood  Creek  at  Rome,  and  some 
extraordinary  rifts  or  rapids,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  passage  of  boats  from 
Albany,  or  Schenectady,  to  Oswego  and  the  Cayuga  lake.  Beyond  these 
nothing  was  then  contemplated.  To  lock  round  the  Niagara  falls  was  a  sub- 
sequent project,  which  was  never  attempted  to  be  put  into  execution.  The 
merit  of  first  starting  the  idea  of  a  direct  communication  by  water,  between 
Lake  Erie  and  the  Hudson  River,  unquestionably  belongs  to  Mr.  Gouverneur 
Morris.  The  first  suggestion  I  had  of  it  was  from  him.  In  1803,  I  acciden- 
tally met  with  him  at  Schenectady.  We  put  up  for  the  night  at  the  same  inn, 
and  passed  the  evening  together.  Among  the  numerous  topics  of  conversa- 
tion, to  which  his  prolific  mind,  and  excursive  imagination  gave  birth,  was 
that  of  improving  the  means  of  intercourse  with  the  interior  of  our  state.  He 
then  mentioned  the  project  of  tapping  Lake  Erie,  as  he  expressed  himself, 
and  leading  its  waters  in  an  artificial  river,  directly  across  the  country  to 
the  Hudson  River.  To  this  I  very  naturally  opposed  the  intermediate  hills 
and  valleys,  as  insuperable  obstacles.  His  answer  was,  in  substance,  labor 
improbus  omnia  vincit,  and  that  the  object  would  justify  the  labour  and  expense, 
whatever  that  might  be.  Considering  this  as  a  romantic  thing,  and  charac- 
teristic of  the  man,  I  related  it  on  several  occasions.  Mr.  Geddes  now  reminds 
me  that  I  mentioned  it  to  him  in  1804,  when  he  was  here  as  a  member  of  the 
legislature,  and  adds,  that  afterwards,  when  in  company  with  Mr.  Jesse  Haw- 
ley,  it  became  a  subject  of  conversation,  which  probably  led  to  inquiries,  that 
induced  Mr.  Hawley  to  write  the  essays  which  afterwards  appeared  in  news- 
papers, on  the  subject  of  carrying  a  canal  from  Lake  Erie  to  Albany,  through 
the  interior  of  the  country,  without  going  by  the  way  of  Lake  Ontario. 

The  author  of  the  pamphlet  continues: — "Mr.  James  Geddes,  one  of  the 
principal  engineers  of  the  Erie  Canal,  has  on  a  former  occasion  thus  expressed 
himself:  '  canals  between  the  Hudson  and  northern  Wood  Creek,  and  between 
the  Mohawk  and  western  Wood  Creek,  must  have  been  contemplated  by  the 
first  navigators  of  these  waters,  things  so  obvious  must  have  early  struck  every 
one,  but  the  idea  of  the  Erie  Canal  is  of  very  modern  origin.    In  the  winter 

31 


262 


APPENDIX. 


of  1804,  I  learnt  for  the  first  time,  from  the  surveyor  general,  that  Mr.  Gou- 
verneur  Morris  in  a  conversation  between  them  in  the  preceding  autumn, 
mentioned  the  scheme  of  a  canal  from  Lake  Erie  across  the  country  to  the 
Hudson  River.  The  idea  of  saving  so  much  lockage  by  not  descending  into 
Lake  Ontario,  made  a  lively  impression  on  my  mind,  by  which  I  was  prompted 
on  every  occasion  to  inquire  into  the  practicability  of  the  project,  and  entered 
with  enthusiasm  on  the  task  assigned  by  the  surveyor  general  in  1808,  of 
expending  the  small  sum  of  six  hundred  dollars,  then  granted  by  our  legisla- 
ture for  making  levels,  &c.' 

"  The  improved  intercourse  with  Lake  Erie  had  been  always  contemplated 
to  be  effected  by  removing  obstructions  in  the  streams,  and  in  some  places 
constructing  canals  and  locks,  on  the  route  of  the  then  actual  intercourse  by 
the  Mohawk  River,  western  Wood  Creek,  Oneida  Lake,  Onondago  and 
Oswego  Rivers,  Lake  Ontario,  and  Niagara  River.  But  when  Mr.  G.  Morris's 
project  of  constructing  a  canal  across  the  country  the  whole  distance  from 
Lake  Erie  to  the  Hudson,  was  made  known  and  discussed  in  the  interior, 
the  scheme  was  adopted  there,  and  spread  with  inconceivable  rapidity.  Mr. 
Jesse  Hawley  of  Ontario,  engaged  in  giving  publicity  to  the  proposed  route 
with  great  zeal,  and  in  1807,  published  a  number  of  essays  in  the  newspapers, 
which  had  an  excellent  effect  in  making  the  inhabitants  of  the  western  district 
familiar  with  the  subject,  and  engaging  their  steady  co-operation  in  promoting 
a  plan  which  was  to  them  of  such  vast  importance." 


The  following  observations  by  the  author  of  the  Supplement  to  Col.  Troup's 
letter  addressed  to  Brockholst  Livingston,  Esq.  on  the  lake  canal  policy  of  the 
state  of  New-York,  are  also  introduced  as  connected  with  this  subject. 

"  In  1796,  Mr.  Thomas  Eddy,  one  of  the  most  efficient  members  of  the 
Western  Navigation  Company,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Weston,  a  distinguished 
engineer,  explored  the  country  from  the  Mohawk,  to  the  Seneca  River,  under 
the  direction  of  General  Schuyler,  the  president  of  the  association,  for  the 
purpose  of  laying  out  the  track  of  a  direct  canal  to  connect  those  rivers,  as 


APPENDIX. 


263 


well  to  avoid  the  intricate  navigation  of  Wood  Creek,  as  the  dangerous  pas- 
sage for  loaded  boats  across  the  Oneida  lake.  They  reported  in  favour  of 
the  plan,  but  no  attempt  was  made  to  carry  it  into  effect.  In  this  incipient 
measure,  we  distinctly  perceive  an  additional  stride  towards  the  Great  Erie 
Canal. 

"Recent  inquiries  have  also  enabled  me  to  state,  that  Gen.  Philip  Schuy- 
ler, whose  name  is  already  identified  with  the  system  of  inland  navigation, 
proposed  by  the  act  of  1792,  conceived,  as  early  as  the  year  1797  or  1798,  the 
design  of  extending  that  system  to  Lake  Erie.  The  intelligence  and  patriotism 
of  that  great  man  have  received  from  Colonel  Troup  an  animated  but  merited 
encomium ;  and  I  am  happy  to  furnish  new  evidence  of  both,  by  announcing 
him  as  probably  the  first  individual  who  conceived  the  splendid  project  of 
uniting  by  a  direct  canal,  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie  with  those  of  the  Mohawk 
and  Hudson. 

"  The  evidence  upon  which  this  opinion  is  founded,  and  which  has  never 
been  laid  before  the  public,  will  be  found  in  the  appendix.*  The  name  of 


*  The  evidence,  referred  to  above,  is  contained  in  the  following  paragraph,  from  a  letter 
of  Major  James  Cochran,  addressed  to  Moses  I.  Cantine,  dated  Utica,  Feb.  10,  1822. 

"  In  the  year  1797, 1  was  frequently  at  the  Little  Falls,  where  I  saw  General  Philip 
Schuyler,  and  Mr.  Weston  the  engineer.  I  staid  at  the  same  house  with  them  at  that  place 
for  six  or  seven  days  together,  and  heard  almost  every  day  conversations  between  them  on 
the  subject  of  internal  navigation.  Their  views  went  far  beyond  the  projects  then  autho- 
rised by  law :  they  frequently  talked  of  water  communications,  by  means  of  canals,  as  far  as 
Lake  Erie,  keeping  the  interior,  so  as  to  avoid  the  Niagara  Falls,  provided  the  face  of  the 
country  would  admit  of  a  different  route.  Good  policy,  as  it  respected  our  contiguity  to  the 
Canadas,  as  well  as  the  principles  of  canalling,  so  well  understood,  and  the  benefits  arising 
from  it,  forbade  the  route  by  the  way  of  Lake  Ontario.  But  they  considered  the  period 
remote,  when  this  great  system  of  canalling  was  to  be  adopted.  At  the  time  I  speak  of,  it 
was  supposed  that  neither  the  infant  state  of  the  country,  nor  public  opinion,  would  allow  of 
any  other  steps  towards  internal  improvements,  than  those  already  sanctioned  by  law.  Their 
whole  views  were  therefore  bent  on  perfecting  the  navigation  from  the  Hudson  to  the 
Seneca  Lake,  and  the  harbour  of  Oswego,  in  conformity  to  the  law  of  1792." 


264  APPENDIX. 

Schuyler  is  dear  to  the  people  of  this  state,  and  I  doubt  not  they  will  cheer- 
fully award  to  his  memory  the  honour  it  deserves. 

"  Gouverneur  Morris  has  also  been  supposed  to  have  alluded  to  this  project, 
in  a  letter  to  a  friend  in  Europe,  written  in  the  year  1800,  but  published  since 
his  death,  in  which  he  says — '  That  one-tenth  of  the  expense  borne  by  Britain 
in  the  last  campaign,  would  enable  ships  to  sail  from  London  through  the 
Hudson  River  into  Lake  Erie.' 

"  If  Mr.  Morris  contemplated  in  this  passage,  a  canal  from  Lake  Erie  on  the 
present  system,  it  is  highly  probable,  from  the  intimacy  which  existed  between 
him  and  General  Schuyler,  that  the  idea  was  communicated  to  him  by  the 
latter. 

"It  is  supposed  by  others,  that  he  intended  a  communication  between  Lake 
Erie  and  the  Hudson,  by  what  is  usually  called  the  '  Ontario  route,'  to  be  ef- 
fected by  a  canal  and  locks  around  the  falls  of  Niagara,  by  navigating  Lake 
Ontario  to  Oswego  harbour,  and  from  thence,  pursuing  the  plan  of  Mr.  Wat- 
son, as  adopted  by  the  legislature  in  March  1792.  Perhaps  such  may  have 
been  his  meaning,  for  in  the  year  1798,  a  law  had  been  passed  authorising  the 
construction  of  a  canal  around  the  falls  of  Niagara,  for  the  express  purpose 
of  connecting  the  vast  chain  of  upper  lakes,  with  Ontario  and  the  Hudson,  via 
Oswego  and  the  improved  navigation." 


With  the  hope,  if  possible,  of  settling  the  question  with  regard  to  Mr. 
Morris's  views  on  this  subject,  I  addressed  a  letter  to  Mr.  James  Geddes  now 
residing  in  the  county  of  Onondago,  to  Mr.  Charles  C.  Brodhead  of  Utica, 
and  to  Mr.  Benjamin  Wright,  who  have  all  been  actively  and  extensively 
employed  in  their  professional  capacity,  as  surveyors  and  engineers.  The 
following  extracts  are  from  the  communications  I  have  received  from  those 
respectable  sources  of  information. 


APPENDIX. 


265 


Extract  of  a  letter  from  James  Geddes,  dated  January  17,  1829. 
Dear  Sir, 

I  must  say,  that  I  never  had  the  idea  cross  my  mind  of  passing  a  canal 
over  the  country  to  Lake  Erie,  regardless  of  the  ready  made  navigation  of 
Lake  Ontario,  until  I  received  it  from  the  surveyor  general  in  1804,  as  com- 
municated to  him  by  Gouverneur  Morris.  The  impression  made  on  my  mind 
was  vivid  ;  the  saving  of  so  much  lockage  struck  me  as  a  grand  desideratum. 
I  had  then  been  ten  years  in  this  country,  a  wilderness  at  that  time,  but  par- 
tially penetrated,  had  a  knowledge  of  the  chain  of  swamps,  which  stretch 
across  the  country  from  Montezuma  to  the  Mohawk  River,  and  readily  enter- 
tained some  idea  of  the  practicability  of  the  project.  Four  years  afterwards, 
I  found  the  continuance  westward  of  the  above  singular  formation  through 
the  long  swamp  between  the  Seneca  River  waters  and  those  of  the  Ironde- 
quot,  and  had  in  1808  all  doubts  removed  as  to  the  practicability  of  the  plan 
suggested.  Yes,  sir,  more  than  twenty  years  ago,  I  became  acquainted  with 
nearly  all  the  prominent  features  of  the  internal  direct  course  to  Erie. 

In  my  report  made  to  the  surveyor  general,  January  20th,  1809,  you  will 
find,  Vol.  I.  p.  32d  of  the  Official  History,  &c.  anticipations  as  follows  : — As  to 
farther  particulars  respecting  the  interior  route,  it  would  be  important  to 
know,  whether  there  is  not  some  place  in  the  ridge  which  bounds  the  Tona- 
wanta  valley  on  the  north,  as  low  as  the  level  of  Lake  Erie,  where  a  canal 
might  be  led  across.  A  place  so  low  has  not  been  found,  but  it  has  been 
made  so. 

I  consider  it,  sir,  amongst  the  fortunate  occurrences  of  my  life,  that  after 
having  received  the  idea  of  such  a  project,  I  was  enabled  fully  to  test  its 
practicability.  It  was  a  piece  of  good  fortune,  for  which  I  feel  grateful  to  him, 
that  I  was  employed  by  the  surveyor  general  to  make  the  surveys.  And  I 
have  been  alike  fortunate  in  enjoying  the  confidence  of  the  several  legisla- 
tures, who  have  passed  important  laws  relative  to  the  Erie  Canal,  during  the 
eleven  years  in  which  I  was  the  only  engineer,  who  had  ever  seen  or  given 
any  account  of  the  western  section.  In  February  1820,  the  report  of  Canvass 
White,  Esq.  is  mentioned  as  his  first  entrance  on  the  western  section. 


266 


APPENDIX. 


Between  the  years  1804  and  1808,  when  my  neighbour,  Judge  Forman,  brought 
forward  his  resolutions  in  the  legislature,  I  had  often  conversed  on  the  subject 
of  the  canal  to  Lake  Erie,  with  him  and  other  gentlemen  who  had  a  relish  for 
such  speculative  inquiries,  and  have  not  the  least  doubt,  that  the  ideas  of 
every  one  on  the  internal  route,  are  traceable  to  the  conversations  in  1803, 
between  Messrs.  De  Witt  and  Morris.  In  Mr.  De  Witt's  letter  to  Mr.  Darby, 
he  says,  "  I  related  it  on  several  occasions." 

I  have  the  most  perfect  recollection  of  circumstances,  time  and  place, 
when  I  informed  Mr.  Jesse  Hawley  of  the  project.  It  was  at  Geneva,  the 
winter  before  he  wrote  his  essays.  I  had  a  few  days  before  seen  a  map  of  the 
country  west  of  the  Genesee.  River,  from  which  I  had  received  some  new 
ideas  as  to  the  probable  track  of  such  a  canal,  and  finding  in  him  a  taste  for 
such  disquisitions,  I  conversed  at  length  with  him  on  the  subject,  and  have  no 
doubt  but  that  I  then  informed  him  that  the  idea  came  from  Mr.  Morris. 

I  had  great  opportunities  of  being  acquainted  with  Mr.  Morris's  canal  notions; 
and  he  seemed  to  have  caught  much  of  that  spirit  of  the  celebrated  Brindley, 
who  would  make  tunnels,  high  embankments,  almost  any  thing  to  avoid  lock- 
age. This  great  desire  to  lessen  lockage,  probably  suggested  the  idea  of 
passing  across  the  country  south  of  Lake  Ontario,  and  thus  avoiding  all  the 
locks  required  to  descend  to  Lake  Ontario,  and  rise  again  to  the  Ulica  level; 
for  such  was  his  ignorance  of  the  country  to  be  passed,  and  his  pertinacity 
was  such,  that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  call  his  attention  to  the  impracti- 
cability of  such  a  thing. 

Forty-five  feet  that  Seneca  River  lies  below  the  Utica  level,  makes  ninety 
feet  of  lockage  that  could  not  be  avoided  ;  but  the  thirty-four  feet  of  lockage 
made  by  the  alteration  of  1818,  from  the  first  map  that  had  been  made,  was 
not  necessary. 

Very  respectfully,  I  am,  Sir, 

Your  most  obedient  servant, 

JAMES  GEDDES. 

To  Dr.  David  Hosack. 


APPENDIX. 


267 


Letter  from  Mr.  Charles  C.  Brodhead. 

Utica,  February  1st,  1929. 

Dear  Sir, 

I  have  this  moment  received  yours  of  the  26th  ult.  relative  to  the  Erie 
Canal ;  and  in  reply,  can  only  say,  that  I  do  not  recollect  that  I  ever  saw  my 
name  in  any  pamphlet  published,  though  I  had  seen  a  publication  in  the 
American,  stating  Gouverneur  Morris's  views  of  a  project  of  a  canal,  as  said 
to  have  been  related  by  me,  and  which  I  was  afterwards  informed,  by  some 
one,  had  been  taken  from  a  pamphlet  published  in  New-Jersey.  If  this  is 
what  you  allude  to,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying,  that  the  account  given  of 
the  conversation  with  Mr.  Morris,  as  stated  in  that  paper,  is  in  many  impor- 
tant particulars,  incorrect,  and  does  not  convey  my  views  in  relation  to 
the  subject.  It  is  some  time  since  1  have  seen  this  publication,  and  cannot 
now  lay  my  hands  on  it,  so  as  to  refresh  my  memory,  but  I  well  recollect  the 
impression  it  made  on  my  mind  at  the  time.  And  will  therefore  give  you  as 
brief  a  statement  as  possible,  of  what  I  consider  to  be  the  facts,  in  relation  to 
Mr.  Morris's  views,  as  conveyed  to  me  at  the  time. 

In  the  year  1802  or  3,  I  met  Mr.  Morris  at  Rome,  and  had  a  conversation 
with  him  on  the  subject  of  canals.  He  had  just  then  ascended  the  Mohawk, 
in  a  boat  on  a  tour  to  the  St.  Lawrence,  by  the  way  of  Oswego,  and  inquired 
very  particularly  of  me  as  to  the  situation  and  soil  of  the  land,  along  the 
Oneida  Lake  and  the  banks  of  the  Oneida  and  Oswego  Rivers,  and  the  coun- 
try lying  between  the  Oneida  and  Ontario  Lakes.  And  if  I  mistake  not,  he 
spoke  of  the  waters  of  the  Salmon  River,  and  Bruce's  Creek,  so  called  ;  the 
former  empties  into  Lake  Ontario,  and  the  latter  into  Oneida  Lake.  I  do  not 
recollect  that  Lake  Erie  was  mentioned  in  this  conversation,  and  it  is  my  im- 
pression that  it  was  not,  though  it  might  have  been  and  forgotten  by  me. 
After  answering  Mr.  Morris's  inquiries,  as  far  as  I  was  able,  he  declared  he 
would  give  five  hundred  dollars  to  be  a  member  of  the  legislature  that  year, 
that  he  might  get  a  law  passed  for  a  canal  from  the  Hudson  River,  and  I  think  I 
cannot  be  mistaken,  when  I  say,  to  Lake  Ontario.    Much  might  be  said,  and 


268 


APPENDIX. 


many  anecdotes  told,  were  it  necessary  to  show  Mr.  Morris's  zeal  and  views  on 
this  subject;  but  more  is  not  thought  necessary.  Whatever  Mr.  Morris's 
views  might  have  been  subsequent  to  this  period,  I  cannot  say,  nor  do  I  know 
who  is  entitled  to  the  credit,  of  first  suggesting  the  project  of  carrying  the 
canal  direct  to  Lake  Erie,  nor  would  I  hazard  an  opinion  at  this  time. 

I  am,  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

CHARLES  C.  BRODHEAD. 

To  Dr.  David  Hosacr. 

P.  S.  I  remember  to  have  had  a  conversation  with  Mr.  R.  at  Utica,  on 
the  subject  of  the  canal,  when  we  spoke  of  Mr.  Morris,  and  the  splendid 
schemes  proposed  by  him.  But  I  never  intended  to  convey  any  other  idea  to 
him,  or  any  one  else,  of  Mr.  Morris's  views  to  me,  than  those  above  alluded  to, 
and  which  I  have  in  substance  stated. — C.  C.  B. 


Letter  from  Judge  Wright. 

New- York,  Jan.  3,  1829. 

Dear  Sir, 

Your  favour  of  yesterday  is  before  me.  In  this  you  request  me  to  give 
you  all  the  information  I  have  as  to  the  early  views  and  suggestions  of  the 
late  Gouverneur  Morris,  relative  to  the  improvement  of  the  interior  of  this 
state  by  water  communication. 

I  can  only  give  you  what  were  the  rumours  of  the  time,  and  reported  as  the 
remarks  of  Mr.  Morris.  These  conversations  or  observations  were  made  by 
Mr.  Morris  about  the  year  1800,  and  soon  after  that  period,  and  they  all  tend 
to  show  that  Mr.  Morris  looked  only  to  canalling  along  the  valleys  of  the 
natural  water-courses  to  Lake  Ontario,  and  then  connecting  Lake  Ontario  and 
Lake  Erie  by  improvements  around  Niagara  Falls,  as  contemplated  by  the 
act  of  1798. 

I  cannot  say  that  Mr.  Morris  did  not  concur  in  the  project  of  a  canal 
through  the  interior  without  touching  Lake  Ontario,  but  I  feel  very  confident 


APPENDIX. 


269 


he  had  no  local  knowledge  of  the  formation  of  the  country  at  that  day. — 
Neither  do  I  believe  he  gained  any  knowledge  of  the  peculiar  formation  of 
that  part  of  the  state,  until  after  the  surveys  made  by  direction  of  the  state  in 
1808—9. 

A  friend  of  mine,  now  no  more,  told  me  he  heard  Mr.  M.  observe  at  an  early 
day,  (say  about  1800,)  that  a  sloop  navigation  ought  to  be  made  from  the 
Hudson  to  the  lakes  ;  and  when  asked  where  the  labour  to  execute  such  a 
work  could  be  had,  he  replied,  that  we  ought  to  bring  over  thousands  of 
German  Redemptioners  for  that  purpose. 

Taking  this  remark  of  a  sloop  navigation,  and  then  looking  at  the  map  of 
the  state,  where  we  see  that  Oswego  on  Lake  Ontario  is  almost  equi-distant 
between  Niagara  and  Albany,  and  then  bear  in  mind  that  Lake  Ontario  is 
good  sloop  or  ship  navigation,  and  that  all  intelligent  men  at  an  early  day 
looked  that  way  as  the  natural  route  for  improvement,  as  is  evident  by  Mr.  Gal- 
latin's Report  to  Congress  in  1807,  the  inference  is  strong  that  these  were  Mr. 
Morris's  views  until  he  visited  the  country  as  canal  commissioner,  in  1810  : 
he  then  took  a  different  view  of  the  whole  subject. 

I  could  relate  other  remarks  made  by  Mr.  Morris,  which  would  corroborate 
these  impressions,  but  do  not  think  them  important  at  this  time. 

The  late  Mr.  Morris,  with  his  gigantic  mind  and  extensive  views  of  things, 
had  no  doubt  many  vast,  but  crude  and  indefinite  ideas  of  great  future  im- 
provements in  this  country.  Yet  with  all  his  great  mind,  his  projects  were  of 
little  benefit  to  the  world  without  being  submitted  to  the  test  and  scrutiny  of 
sound  practical  minds,  to  decide  upon  what  was  capable  of  being  performed 
with  reasonable  feasibility,  as  to  means  and  future  usefulness  and  profit.  The 
time  I  hope  is  rapidly  approaching,  when  sound  practical  knowledge  and 
judgment,  in  comparing  utility  and  advantages  with  expense  of  execution  in 
great  plans,  will  be  better  understood  and  appreciated,  and  more  in  fashion 
than  heretofore. 

With  great  respect  and  esteem,  1  am,  dear  sir, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

BENJAMIN  WRIGHT. 

To  David  Hosack,  M.D. 

32 


270 


APPENDIX. 


The  views  thus  expressed  by  Mr.  Brodhead  and  Judge  Wright,  appear  to  be 
corroborated  by  Mr.  Morris  himself,  in  the  following  correspondence  with 
General  Lee. 

Extract  of  a  Letter  from  General  Lee  to  Gouverneur  Morris,  Esq. 

"  January  16,  1801. 

"  Dear  Sir, 

"  In  our  late  conversation  respecting  the  western  country,  I  could  not 
but  be  impressed  with  your  observations  on  the  policy  of  strengthening  the 
ties  which  hold  us  together,  by  opening  a  convenient  access  to  the  Atlantic 
from  the  lakes  and  the  Ohio,  through  the  Hudson  and  Potomac  rivers  ;  will 
you  do  me  the  favour  to  commit  to  paper  your  ideas  in  full,  that  we  may,  if 
practicable,  bring  the  nation  to  adopt  and  cherish  a  scheme,  pregnant  with  a 
long  train  of  consequences,  benign  and  useful." 

Extract  of  a  Letter  in  reply  to  the  above  by  Gouverneur  Morris.  Esq.  to 
General  Lee. 

"Washington  City,  Jan.  22,  1801. 

"  Dear  Sir, 

"  In  compliance  with  the  wish  you  did  me  the  honour  to  express  in  your 
letter  of  the  16th,  I  will  sketch  out  a  general  idea  of  what  has  occurred  to 
my  observation  and  reflection,  respecting  the  commerce  of  our  interior  coun- 
try, the  political  consequences  which  may  result  from  it,  and  the  means  we 
possess  of  rendering  that  commerce,  and  those  means,  favourable  to  our 
government  and  propitious  to  our  future  prosperity." 

"  The  rivers  of  the  United  States  falling  south-eastward  into  the  Atlantic, 
furnish  a  means  of  transportation  less  interrupted  by  the  frost  than  the  St. 
Lawrence,  and  more  commodious  than  the  Mississippi." 

"  As  far  as  I  can  judge  from  observation  and  information,  the  communica- 
tion between  Lake  Ontario  and  the  Hudson  is  not  only  practicable,  but  easy, 
though  expensive." 


Al'l'ENDIX. 


271 


Upon  this  last  letter  of  Mr.  Morris,  Mr.  Thomas  Eddy  makes  the  following 
remarks. 

"  Previous  to  this,  say  in  1797,  a  canal  from  Wood  Creek  to  the  Mohawk 
was  completed  by  the  Western  Canal  Company,  under  the  direction  of  Mr. 
Weston,  so  that  Mr.  M.  supposes  a  communication  might  be  made,  which,  in 
fact,  was  done  four  years  previous.  But  it  should  be  well  observed,  Mr.  M. 
only  contemplates  the  practicability  of  a  communication  from  Lake  Ontario 
to  the  Hudson — not  a  word  of  one  continued  canal  from  Lake  Erie  to  the 
Hudson." 

"  The  character  of  Mr.  M.  is  well  known.  His  talents  were  of  the  most 
brilliant  kind  :  he  had  seen  much  of  the  world,  and  it  is  seldom  we  meet  with 
a  man  of  more  universal  knowledge  of  mankind.  He  was,  during  the  trying 
period  of  the  Revolution,  warmly  attached  to  the  great  cause  his  country  was 
then  engaged  in.  When  speaking  of  Mr.  M.  we  therefore  do  not  wish  to  de- 
preciate his  general  character ;  with  all  the  greatness  of  mind  he  possessed,  he 
was  in  many  of  his  opinions  at  times  visionary — he  was  not  a  practical  man. 
Although  no  one  of  the  commissioners  were  more  ardent  in  promoting  the 
object  of  connecting  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie  and  the  Hudson,  yet  it  is  a  fact 
that  Mr.  M.  in  some  respects  injured  the  undertaking — or,  in  other  words,  was 
the  means  of  preventing  the  legislature  engaging  in  the  project  so  soon  as 
they  otherwise  would  have  done.  The  first  Report  was  drawn  (as  Mr.  M.'s 
friends  state,)  by  him.  The  subject  being  new,  and  the  commissioners  diffi- 
dent of  their  own  judgment,  vested  much  confidence  in  the  opinions  of  Mr. 
Morris,  and  signed  that  Report  unadvisedly,  and  without  proper  care  and  de- 
liberation, believing  that  he  knew  much  more  than  he  really  did,  and  distrust- 
ing, perhaps  too  scrupulously,  their  own  judgment,  they  signed,  and  thereby 
sanctioned  that  Report.  In  it  Mr.  M.  gave  scope  to  his  fancy,  and  proposed 
the  project  of  a  canal  on  an  inclined  plane  from  Erie  to  the  Hudson.  When 
this  Report  was  printed,  and  read  by  sensible  men  throughout  the  Union,  they 
were  disappointed,  and  condemned  it  on  account  of  the  proposed  plan  of  an  in- 
clined plane  canal.  The  rare  project  of  a  canal  on  so  extensive  a  scale,  con- 
nected with  the  idea  proposed  of  the  inclined  plane,  caused  much  opposition 


272 


APPENDIX. 


to  the  whole  undertaking. — The  second  Report  was  also  from  the  pen  of  Mr. 
M.  but  in  this,  as  the  other  commissioners  had  gained  some  more  experience 
on  the  subject  generally,  more  care  was  taken,  and  the  errors  contained  in 
the  first  Report  avoided.  After  the  second  Report  was  presented,  the  legis- 
lature passed  an  act,  giving  authority  to  the  commissioners  to  borrow,  on  the 
credit  of  the  state,  five  millions  of  dollars.  Mr.  M.  proposed  to  borrow  this 
money  in  Europe,  and  after  considerable  deliberation,  this  was  agreed  to  by 
the  other  commissioners.  Mr.  M.  drafted  letters  to  a  person  in  Paris,  whom  he 
proposed  should  be  appointed  agent  to  obtain  the  loan.  In  these  letters  Mr. 
M.  directed  the  agent  to  receive  the  money,  and  proposed  that  the  commis- 
sioners would  draw  on  him  for  the  whole  amount.  This  scheme  was  objected 
to  by  the  other  commissioners,  and  Mr.  Clinton  called  on  Chancellor  Living- 
ston, Mr.  De  Witt,  and  Mr.  Eddy,  and  stated  to  them  that  it  would  be  proper 
for  them  to  state  to  Mr.  M.  explicitly,  that  they  would  not  on  any  account 
consent  that  the  agent  should  pledge  the  state,  until  the  money  should  first  be 
paid  the  commissioners  in  New-York.  Mr.  M.  was  exceedingly  offended  that 
his  proposal  should  be  rejected,  and  at  length  was  obliged  to  comply  with  the 
mode  proposed  by  the  other  commissioners,  viz.  that  the  money  should  first  be 
paid  in  New-York,  before  the  state  should  be  pledged  to  redeem  the  loan. — 
Mr.  M.  was  much  chagrined.  If,  as  he  proposed,  the  agent  should  have  re- 
ceived the  money  in  Paris,  and  he,  the  agent  have  died,  or  any  other  accident 
happened,  the  state  might  have  lost  the  whole  of  this  money.  This  anecdote 
serves  to  show  the  ardent  character  of  Mr.  M. — When  the  third  Report  was 
to  be  drafted,  Mr.  M.  was  chairman  of  the  committee,  and  undertook  the  draft- 
ing of  it.  Mr.  M.  addressed  a  letter  to  the  commissioners  then  in  New-York, 
Messrs.  Van  Rensselaer,  North,  and  Eddy,  informing  them  that  it  was  ready, 
and  wished  them  to  come  out  to  Morrisania.  The  roads  were  so  extremely  bad 
that  they  were  prevented  from  going  out ;  they  sent  a  messenger  and  requested 
the  Report  might  be  sent  to  them,  and  stated  if  it  met  their  approbation,  they 
would  send  it  to  Mr.  Clinton  then  at  Albany,  to  be  presented  by  him  to  the  le- 
gislature. The  draft  as  drawn  by  Mr.  Morris  was  sent  to  them,  but  on  examining 
it,  they  could  not  unite  with  Mr.  M.  in  some  parts  of  it,  and  returned  it  with 
respectful  observations  proposing  amendments,  &c.  Mr.  M.  on  this  wrote  the 


APPENDIX. 


273 


note  dated  March  9,  1816,  which  is  inserted  in  the  American  of  April  7, 1819  ; 
on  this  the  commissioners  in  New-York  (Van  Rensselaer,  North,  and  Eddy,) 
drafted  a  Report  and  sent  it  to  Mr.  Clinton  and  Mr.  De  Witt  at  Albany, 
which  wijh  some  alterations  by  the  latter  gentleman  was  presented,  but  Mr. 
M.  did  not  sign  it. — On  the  whole,  Mr.  M.  certainly,  (as  has  been  shown,) 
prevented  the  legislature  adopting  the  plan  prior  to  1816.  On  December  3d, 
that  year,  a  large  meeting  of  citizens  was  convened  at  the  City  Hotel,  and 
addressed  by  Judge  Piatt,  Mr.  Clinton,  and  others.  A  committee  (Messrs. 
Clinton,  Swarthout  and  Eddy,)  were  appointed  to  draft  an  Address  to  the 
legislature.  This  Address  was  written  by  Mr.  Clinton,  and  signed  by  a  very 
large  portion  of  citizens.  The  address  contained  by  far  the  most  clear  view 
of  the  subject  relating  to  the  practicability  of  making  the  canal,  its  advan- 
tages, &c.  &c.  of  any  of  the  reports  made  by  the  commissioners.  It  contains 
so  much  useful  matter,  that  it  is  presumed  it  will  at  this  day  be  an  acceptable 
document  to  lay  before  the  public.,, — Thomas  Eddifs  Manuscripts. 

Such  are  the  statements  I  have  been  enabled  to  obtain  relative  to  the 
claims  of  Mr.  Morris.  I  should  have  been  gratified,  by  having  had  access  to 
his  private  papers,  to  have  found  them  containing  less  equivocal  evidences 
of  the  originality  of  his  suggestion  of  the  course  to  Erie  by  the  interior  route, 
than  those  which  are  adduced. 


Note  P.— p.  92. 

Views  of  General  Washington  relative  to  the  inland  navigation  of  the 
United  States. 

Chief  Justice  Marshall,  noticing  the  views  of  General  Washington  relative 
to  the  inland  navigation  of  this  country,  thus  observes  :* 


Life  of  General  Washington,  Vol.  V.  p.  9. 


274 


APPENDIX. 


"  The  multiplicity  of  private  avocations  could  not  entirely  withdraw  the  mind 
of  Washington  from  objects  tending  to  promote  and  secure  the  public  happi- 
ness. Though  his  resolution  never  again  to  appear  in  the  busy  scenes  of 
political  life  was  believed  by  himself,  and  by  his  bosom  friends  to  be  unaltera- 
ble, it  was  impossible  that  he  should  become  regardless  of  those  measures 
which  must  inevitably  produce  consequences  infinitely  interesting  to  his 
country. 

"  To  a  person  looking  beyond  the  present  moment,  and  taking  the  future 
into  view,  it  was  only  necessary  to  glance  over  the  map  of  the  United  States, 
to  be  impressed  with  the  incalculable  importance  of  connecting  the  western 
with  the  eastern  territory,  by  facilitating  the  means  of  intercourse  between 
them.  To  this  subject,  the  attention  of  General  Washington  had  been  in 
some  measure  directed  in  the  early  part  of  his  life.  While  the  American 
states  were  yet  British  colonies,  he  had  obtained  the  passage  of  a  bill  empow- 
ering those  individuals  who  would  engage  in  the  work,  to  open  the  Potomac 
so  as  to  render  it  navigable  from  tide  water  to  Wills  Creek,  a  distance  of 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  The  river  James  had  also  been  compre- 
hended in  this  plan  ;  and  he  had  triumphed  so  far  over  the  opposition  pro- 
duced by  local  interests  and  prejudices,  that  the  business  was  in  a  train  which 
promised  success,  when  the  revolutionary  war  diverted  the  attention  of  its 
patrons,  and  of  all  America,  from  internal  improvements  to  the  great  objects 
of  liberty  and  independence.  As  that  war  approached  its  termination,  subjects 
which  for  a  time  had  yielded  their  pretensions  to  consideration, reclaimed  that 
place  to  which  their  real  magnitude  entitled  them  ;  and  the  internal  naviga- 
tion again  attracted  the  attention  of  the  wise  and  thinking  part  of  society. 
Accustomed  to  contemplate  America  as  his  country,  and  to  consider  with 
solicitude  the  interests  of  the  whole,  Washington  now  took  a  more  enlarged 
view  of  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from  opening  both  the  eastern  and  west- 
ern waters  ;  and  for  this,  as  well  as  for  other  purposes,  after  peace  had  been 
proclaimed,  he  traversed  the  western  parts  of  New-England  and  New-York. 
'  I  have  lately,1  said  he,  in  a  letter  to  the  marquis  of  Chastellux,  a  foreigner, 
who  was  in  pursuit  of  literary  as  well  as  of  military  fame,  'made  a  tour 
through  the  Lakes  George  and  Champlain,  as  far  as  Crown  Point ;  then  re- 


APPENDIX. 


275 


turning  to  Schenectady,  I  proceeded  up  the  Mohawk  River  to  Fort  Schuyler, 
crossed  over  to  Wood  Creek  which  empties  into  the  Oneida  Lake,  and  affords 
the  water  communication  with  Ontario.  I  then  traversed  the  country  to  the 
head  of  the  eastern  branch  of  the  Susquehanna,  and  viewed  Lake  Oswego, 
and  the  portage  between  that  lake  and  the  Mohawk  River  at  Canajoharie. 
Prompted  by  these  actual  observations,  I  could  not  help  taking  a  more  con- 
templative and  extensive  view  of  the  vast  inland  navigation  of  these  United 
States,  and  could  not  but  be  struck  with  the  immense  diffusion  and  impor- 
tance of  it ;  and  with  the  goodness  of  that  Providence  which  has  dealt  his 
favours  to  us  with  so  profuse  a  hand.  Would  to  God  we  may  have  wisdom 
enough  to  improve  them.  I  shall  not  rest  contented  until  I  have  explored 
the  western  country,  and  traversed  those  lines  (or  great  part  of  them)  which 
have  given  bounds  to  a  new  empire.' 

"  Scarcely  had  he  answered  those  spontaneous  offerings  of  the  heart,  which, 
on  retiring  from  the  head  of  the  army,  flowed  in  upon  him  from  every  part  of 
a  grateful  nation,  when  his  views  were  once  more  seriously  turned  to  this 
truly  interesting  subject.  Its  magnitude  was  also  impressed  on  others ;  and 
the  value  of  obtaining  the  aid  which  his  influence  and  active  interference 
would  afford  to  any  exertions  for  giving  this  direction  to  the  public  mind,  and 
for  securing  the  happy  execution  of  the  plan  which  might  be  devised,  was 
perceived  by  all  those  who  attached  to  the  great  work  a  sufficient  degree  of 
importance,  and  who  were  anxious  for  its  success.  In  a  letter  from  a  gentle- 
man, (Mr.  Jefferson)  who  had  taken  an  expanded  view  of  the  subject,  who 
felt  an  ardent  wish  for  its  accomplishment,  and  who  relied  on  funds  to  be 
advanced  by  the  public  for  its  execution,  a  detailed  statement  of  his  ideas 
was  thus  concluded. 

" '  But  a  most  powerful  objection  always  arises  to  propositions  of  this  kind. 
It  is,  that  public  undertakings  are  carelessly  managed,  and  much  money  spent 
to  little  purpose.  To  obviate  this  objection  is  the  purpose  of  my  giving  you 
the  trouble  of  this  discussion.  You  have  retired  from  public  life.  You  have 
weighed  this  determination,  and  it  would  be  impertinence  in  me  to  touch  it. 
But  would  the  superintendence  of  this  work  break  in  too  much  on  the  sweets 
of  retirement  and  repose  ?    If  they  would,  I  stop  here.    Your  future  time 


276 


APPENDIX. 


and  wishes  are  sacred  in  my  eye.  If  it  would  be  only  a  dignified  amusement 
to  you,  what  a  monument  of  your  retirement  would  it  be !  It  is  one 
which  would  follow  that  of  your  public  life,  and  bespeak  it  the  work  of  the 
same  great  hand.  I  am  confident  that  would  you  either  alone,  or  jointly  with 
any  persons  you  think  proper,  be  willing  to  direct  this  business,  it  would  remove 
the  only  objection,  the  weight  of  which  I  apprehend.' 

"In  the  beginning  of  the  autumn  of  1784,  General  Washington  made  a  tour 
as  far  west  as  Pittsburgh ;  after  returning  from  which,  his  first  moments  of 
leisure  were  devoted  to  the  task  of  engaging  his  countrymen  in  a  work  which 
appeared  to  him  to  merit  still  more  attention  from  its  political,  than  from  its 
commercial  influence  on  the  union.  In  a  long  and  interesting  letter  to  Mr. 
Harrison,  then  Governor  of  Virginia,  he  detailed  the  advantages  which  might 
be  derived  from  opening  the  great  rivers,  the  Potomac  and  the  James,  as 
high  as  should  be  practicable.  After  stating  with  his  accustomed  exactness 
the  distances,  and  the  difficulties  to  be  surmounted  in  bringing  the  trade  of 
the  west  to  different  points  on  the  Atlantic,  he  expressed  unequivocally  the 
opinion,  that  the  rivers  of  Virginia  afforded  a  more  convenient,  and  a  more 
direct  course  than  could  be  found  elsewhere,  for  that  rich  and  increasing  com- 
merce. This  was  strongly  urged  as  a  motive  for  immediately  commencing 
the  work.  But  the  rivers  of  the  Atlantic  constituted  only  a  part  of  the  great 
plan  he  contemplated.  He  suggested  the  appointment  of  commissioners  of 
integrity  and  abilities,  exempt  from  the  suspicion  of  prejudice,  whose  duty  it 
should  be,  after  an  accurate  examination  of  the  James  and  the  Potomac,  to 
search  out  the  nearest  and  best  portages  between  those  waters  and  the  streams 
capable  of  improvement,  which  run  into  the  Ohio.  Those  streams  were  to  be 
accurately  surveyed,  the  impediments  to  their  navigation  ascertained,  and 
their  relative  advantages  examined,  The  navigable  waters  west  of  the  Ohio, 
towards  the  great  lakes,  were  also  to  be  traced  to  their  sources,  and  those 
which  empty  into  the  lakes  to  be  followed  to  their  mouths.  '  These  things 
being  done,  and  an  accurate  map  of  the  whole  presented  to  the  public,  he 
was  persuaded  that  reason  would  dictate  what  was  right  and  proper.1  For 
the  execution  of  this  latter  part  of  his  plan  he  had  also  much  reliance  on 
congress ;  and  in  addition  to  the  general  advantages  to  be  drawn  from  the 


APPENDIX. 


277 


measure,  he  laboured,  in  his  letters  to  the  members  of  that  body,  to  establish 
the  opinion,  that  the  surveys  he  recommended  would  odd  to  the  revenue,  by 
enhancing  the  value  of  the  lands  offered  for  sale.  'Nature,'  he  said,  'had 
made  such  an  ample  display  of  her  bounties  in  those  regions,  that  the  more 
the  country  was  explored,  the  more  it  would  rise  in  estimation.1 

"The  assent  and  co-operation  of  Maryland  being  indispensable  to  the  im- 
provement of  the  Potomac,  he  was  equally  earnest  in  his  endeavours  to  impress 
a  conviction  of  its  superior  advantages  on  influential  individuals  in  that  state. 
In  doing  so,  he  detailed  the  measures  which  would  unquestionably  be  adopted 
by  New-York  and  Pennsylvania,  for  acquiring  the  monopoly  of  the  western 
commerce,  and  the  difficulty  which  would  be  found  in  diverting  it  from  the 
channel  it  had  once  taken.  'I  am  not,'  he  added,  'for  discouraging  the  ex- 
ertions of  any  state  to  draw  the  commerce  of  the  western  country  to  its  sea 
ports.  The  more  communications  we  open  to  it,  the  closer  we  bind  that 
rising  world,  for  indeed  it  may  be  so  called,  to  our  interests,  and  the  greater 
strength  shall  we  acquire  by  it.  Those  to  whom  nature  affords  the  best  com- 
munication, will,  if  they  are  wise,  enjoy  the  greatest  share  of  the  trade.  All  I 
would  be  understood  to  mean,  therefore,  is,  that  the  gifts  of  Providence  may 
not  be  neglected.' 

"But  the  light  in  which  this  subject  would  be  viewed  with  most  interest, 
and  which  gave  to  it  most  importance,  was  its  political  influence  on  the  union. 
'  I  need  not  remark  to  you,  sir,'  said  he  in  his  letter  to  the  Governor  of  Vir- 
ginia, 'that  the  flanks  and  rear  of  the  United  States  are  possessed  by  other 
powers,  and  formidable  ones  too :  nor  need  I  press  the  necessity  of  applying 
the  cement  of  interest  to  bind  all  parts  of  the  union  together  by  indissoluble 
bonds,  especially  of  binding  that  part  of  it  which  lies  immediately  west  of  us, 
to  the  middle  states.  For  what  ties,  let  me  ask,  should  we  have  upon  those 
people,  how  entirely  unconnected  with  them  shall  we  be,  and  what  troubles 
may  we  not  apprehend,  if  the  Spaniards  on  their  right,  and  Great  Britain  on 
their  left,  instead  of  throwing  impediments  in  their  way  as  they  now  do,  should 
hold  out  lures  for  their  trade  and  alliance  ?  when  they  get  strength,  which 
will  be  sooner  than  most  people  conceive,  what  will  be  the  consequence  of 

33^ 


278 


APPENDIX. 


their  having  formed  close  commercial  connexions  with  both,  or  either  of  those 
powers?  it  needs  not,  in  my  opinion,  the  gift  of  prophecy  to  foretell. 

"  '  The  western  settlers,  I  speak  now  from  my  own  observations,  stand  as  it 
were,  upon  a  pivot.  The  touch  of  a  feather  would  turn  them  any  way.  Until 
the  Spaniards,  very  unwisely  as  I  think,  threw  difficulties  in  their  way,  they 
looked  down  the  Mississippi ;  and  they  looked  that  way  for  no  other  reason  than 
because  they  could  glide  gently  down  the  stream ;  without  considering,  perhaps, 
the  fatigues  of  the  voyage  back  again,  and  the  time  necessary  for  its  perform- 
ance ;  and  because  they  have  no  other  means  of  coming  to  us  but  by  a  long 
land  transportation  through  unimproved  roads.1  Letters  of  the  same  import 
were  also  addressed  to  the  Governor  of  Maryland,  and  to  other  gentlemen  in 
that  state.  To  a  member  of  the  national  legislature,  he  observed,  'there  is  a 
matter  which,  though  it  does  not  come  before  congress  wholly,  is  in  my  opinion 
of  great  political  importance,  and  ought  to  be  attended  to  in  time.  It  is  to  pre- 
vent the  trade  of  the  western  territory  from  settling  in  the  hands  either  of  the 
Spaniards  or  British.  If  either  of  these  happen,  there  is  a  line  of  separation 
drawn  between  the  eastern  and  western  country  at  once,  the  consequences  of 
which  may  be  fatal.  To  tell  any  man  of  information  how  fast  the  latter  is 
settling,  how  much  more  rapidly  it  will  settle  by  means  of  foreign  emigrants 
who  can  have  no  particular  predilection  for  us,  of  the  vast  fertility  of  the  soil,  of 
the  population  to  which  the  country  is  competent,  would  be  unnecessary  ;  and 
equally  unnecessary  would  it  be  to  observe,  that  it  is  by  the  cement  of  interest 
alone  we  can  be  held  together.  If  then  the  trade  of  that  country  should  flow 
through  the  Mississippi  or  the  St.  Lawrence;  if  the  inhabitants  thereof  should 
form  commercial  connexions,  which  we  know  lead  to  intercourses  of  other 
kinds,  they  would  in  a  few  years  be  as  unconnected  with  us,  as  are  those  of 
South  America. 

"  '  It  may  be  asked  how  are  we  to  prevent  this  ?  Happily  for  us  the  way  is 
plain.  Our  immediate  interests,  as  well  as  remote  political  advantages,  point 
to  it ;  whilst  a  combination  of  circumstances  render  the  present  time  more 
favourable  than  any  other  to  accomplish  it.  Extend  the  inland  navigation  of 
the  eastern  waters  ;  communicate  them  as  near  as  possible  with  those  which 


APPENDIX. 


•J7<> 


run  westward ;  open  these  to  the  Ohio ;  open  also  such  as  extend  from  the 
Ohio  towards  Lake  Erie ;  and  we  shall  not  only  draw  the  produce  of  the 
western  settlers,  but  the  peltry  and  fur  trade  of  the  lakes  also,  to  our  ports  : 
thus  adding  an  immense  increase  to  our  exports,  and  binding  those  people  to 
us  by  a  chain  which  never  can  be  broken.' 

"The  letter  to  the  Governor  was  communicated  to  the  assembly  of  Virginia, 
and  the  internal  improvements  it.  recommended  were  zealously  advocated  by  the 
wisest  and  most  influential  members  of  that  body.  While  the  subject  remain- 
ed undecided,  Gen.  Washington,  accompanied  by  the  Marquis  de  La  Fayette, 
who  had  crossed  the  Atlantic,  and  had  devoted  a  part  of  his  time  to  the  delights 
of  an  enthusiastic  friendship,  paid  a  visit  to  the  capital  of  the  state.  Never  was 
reception  more  cordial,  or  more  demonstrative  of  respect  and  affection,  than 
was  given  to  these  beloved  personages.  But  amidst  the  display  of  addresses 
and  of  entertainments  which  were  produced  by  the  occasion,  the  great  busi- 
ness of  promoting  the  internal  improvements  then  in  contemplation,  was  not 
forgotten  ;  and  the  ardor  of  the  moment  was  seized  to  conquer  those  objec- 
tions to  the  plan,  which  yet  lingered  in  the  bosoms  of  those  who  could  per- 
ceive in  it  no  future  advantages  to  compensate  for  the  present  expense. 

"An  exact  conformity  between  the  acts  of  Virginia  and  of  Maryland, 'being 
indispensable  to  the  improvement  of  the  Potomac,  the  friends  of  the  measure 
deemed  it  advisable  to  avail  themselves  of  the  same  influence  with  the  latter 
state,  which  had  been  successfully  employed  with  the  former  ;  and  a  resolution 
was  passed,  soon  after  the  return  of  General  Washington  to  Mount  Vernon, 
requesting  him  to  attend  the  legislature  of  Maryland,  in  order  to  agree  on  a 
bill  which  might  receive  the  sanction  of  both  states.  This  agreement  being 
happily  completed,  the  bills  were  enacted  under  which,  works,  capable  of 
being  rendered  the  most  extensively  beneficial  of  any  thing  yet  attempted  in 
the  United  States,  have  been  nearly  accomplished. 

"'Not  content  then,  continues  General  Washington,  with  the  bare  con- 
sciousness of  my  having  in  all  this  navigation  business,  acted  upon  the 
clearest  conviction  of  the  political  importance  of  the  measure,  I  would  wish 
that  every  individual  who  may  hear  that  it  was  a  favourite  plan  of  mine,  may 
know  also,  that  I  had  no  other  motive  for  promoting  it,  than  the  advantage 


280 


APPENDIX. 


of  which  I  conceived  it  would  be  productive  to  the  union  at  large,  and  to 
this  state  in  particular,  by  cementing  the  eastern  and  western  territory  toge- 
ther, at  the  same  time  that  it  will  give  vigour  and  increase  to  our  commerce 
and  be  a  convenience  to  our  citizens.'  " 


Note  Q. — p.  92. 

The  services  of  Christopher  Colles  and  of  Jeffrey  Smith. 

The  following  observations,  taken  from  a  publication  entitled  "  The  Canal 
Policy  of  the  State  of  New-York,"  by  Tacitus,  generally  believed  to  have 
been  published  under  the  superintendence  of  Governor  Clinton,  contains  a 
succinct  view  of  the  plans  of  improvement  proposed  by  Mr.  Colles,  and  of 
the  spirit  and  enterprise  with  which  they  were  urged  as  early  as  the  year 
1784. 

"  The  utility  of  canals  to  supersede  the  portages  on  the  Mohawk  and  Os- 
wego rivers,  and  to  unite  the  Mohawk  River  and  Wood  Creek,  must  have 
been  obvious  to  every  traveller.  During  what  was  called  the  French  war, 
this  route  was  of  course  the  thoroughfare  to  the  military  posts  on  Lake  Onta- 
rio— and  Oswego  and  Niagara  were  the  great  seats  of  the  fur  trade,  in  times 
of  peace  as  well  as  of  war.  Carver,*  who  travelled  through  the  western 
country  in  the  summer  of  1766,  says, '  the  Oneida  Lake,  situated  near  the 
head  of  the  river  Oswego,  receives  the  waters  of  Wood  Creek,  which  takes 
its  rise  not  far  from  the  Mohawk  River.  These  two  lie  so  adjacent  to  each 
other,  that  a  junction  is  effected  by  sluices  at  Fort  Stanwix.'  Thus  we  see 
at  that  early  period,  that  an  artificial  water-communication  was  made  between 
those  streams  at  Rome,  and  in  times  of  high  flood,  there  is  no  doubt  but  that 
boats  frequently  passed  from  the  one  to  the  other. 


*  See  Carver's  Travels,  page  79. 


APPENDIX. 


281 


"  Mr.  Christopher  Colles,  a  native  of  Ireland,  who  settled  in  New-York,  and 
who  had,  before  the  revolutionary  war,  proposed  a  plan  for  supplying  that 
city  with  good  water,  was  the  first  person  who  suggested  to  the  government 
of  the  state,  the  canals  and  improvements  on  the  Ontario  route.  Colles  was 
a  man  of  good  character,  an  ingenious  mechanician,  and  well  skilled  in  the 
mathematics.  Unfortunately  for  him,  and  perhaps  for  the  public,  he  was 
generally  considered  a  visionary  projector,  and  his  plans  were  sometimes 
treated  with  ridicule,  and  frequently  viewed  with  distrust. 

"  In  the  session  of  the  legislature  of  1784,*  he  presented  a  memorial,  and 
on  the  6th  of  November  in  that  year,  Mr.  Adgate,  from  the  committee  to 
whom  was  referred  the  memorial  of  Christopher  Colles,  proposing  some  in- 
teresting improvements  in  inland  navigation,  reported — '  That  it  is  the  opinion 
of  the  committee,  that  the  laudable  proposals  of  Mr.  Colles  for  removing  the 
obstructions  in  the  Mohawk  River,  so  that  boats  of  burthen  may  pass  the 
same,  merit  the  encouragement  of  the  public;  but  that  it  would  be  inexpe- 
dient for  the  legislature  to  cause  that  business  to  be  undertaken  at  the  public 
expense.  That  as  the  performing  such  a  work  will  be  very  expensive,  it  is 
therefore  the  opinion  of  the  committee,  that  if  Mr.  Colles,  with  a  number  of 
adventurers,  (as  by  him  proposed,)  should  undertake  it,  they  ought  to  be  en- 
couraged by  a  law,  giving  and  securing  unto  them,  their  heirs  and  assigns  for 
ever,  the  profits  that  may  arise  from  transportation,  under  such  restrictions  and 
regulations,  as  shall  appear  to  the  legislature  necessary  for  that  purpose  ; 
and  authorising  them  to  execute  that  work  through  any  lands  or  improve- 
ments, on  payment  of  the  damages  to  the  proprietors,  as  the  same  shall  be 
assessed  by  a  jury  and  it  appears  that  this  report  was  sanctioned  by  the 
house. 

"  At  the  next  meeting  of  the  legislature,  Mr.  Colles  again  presented  a  me- 
morial, and  on  the  fifth  of  April,  1785,  a  favourable  report  was  made  by  the 
committee  to  whom  it  was  referred  ;  and  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars 
was  appropriated  in  the  supply  bill  1  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  him  to  make 


*  See  Memorials  of  Assembly  for  that  year. 


282 


APPENDIX. 


an  essay  towards  removing  certain  obstructions  in  the  Mohawk  River,  and  to 
exhibit  a  plan  thereof  to  the  legislature  at  their  next  meeting. 

"  In  pursuance  of  this  arrangement,  Mr.  Colles  visited  the  country  to  be 
affected  by  the  intended  improvements,  and  took  an  actual  survey  of  the 
principal  obstructions  upon  the  Mohawk  River  as  far  as  Wood  Creek.  The 
results  of  this  journey  of  observation  and  survey,  were  published  by  him  in 
a  pamphlet,  entitled  1  Proposals  for  the  speedy  settlement  of  the  waste  and 
unappropriated  lands  on  the  western  frontier  of  the  state  of  New-York,  and 
for  the  improvement  of  the  inland  navigation  between  Albany  and  Oswego. 
Printed  at  New-York,  by  Samuel  Loudon,  1785.1 

In  this  pamphlet  Mr.  Colles  enters  into  certain  calculations  illustrative  of 
his  proposed  design.    He  observes — 

"'From  the  foregoing  views,  the  importance  of  the  proposed  design 
will  appear  sufficiently  evident.  By  this,  the  internal  trade  will  be  increased 
— by  this  also  the  foreign  trade  will  be  promoted — by  this,  the  country  will  be 
settled — by  this,  the  frontiers  will  be  secured — by  this,  a  variety  of  articles,  as 
masts,  yards,  and  ship  timber  may  be  brought  to  New- York,  which  will  not 
bear  the  expense  of  land  carriage,  and  which,  notwithstanding,  will  be  a  consi- 
derable remittance  to  Europe.  By  this,  in  time  of  war,  provisions  and  military 
stores  may  be  moved  with  facility  in  sufficient  quantity  to  answer  any  emer- 
gency ;  and  by  this,  in  time  of  peace,  all  the  necessaries,  conveniences,  and 
if  we  please,  the  luxuries  of  life  may  be  distributed  to  the  remotest  parts  of 
the  great  lakes  which  so  beautifully  diversify  the  face  of  this  extensive  conti- 
nent, and  to  the  smallest  branches  of  the  numerous  rivers  which  shoot  from 
these  lakes  upon  every  point  of  the  compass. 

"  '  Providence,  indeed,  appears  to  favour  this  design ;  for  the  Alleghany 
mountains,  which  pass  through  all  the  states,  seem  to  die  away  as  they  ap- 
proach the  Mohawk  River  ;  and  the  ground,  between  the  upper  part  of  this 
river  and  Wood  Creek,  is  perfectly  level,  as  if  designedly  to  permit  us  to  pass 
through  this  channel  into  this  extensive  inland  country. 

"  'The  amazing  extent  of  the  five  great  lakes,  to  which  the  proposed  navi- 
gation will  communicate,  will  be  found  to  have  five  times  as  much  coast  as 


APPENDIX. 


283 


all  England  ;  and  the  country  watered  by  the  numerous  rivers  which  fall  into 
these  lakes,  full  seven  or  eight  times  as  great  as  that  valuable  island.  If  the 
fertility  of  the  soil  be  the  object  of  our  attention,  we  will  find  it  at  an  average 
equal  to  Britain.  Of  late  years,  the  policy  of  that  island  has  been  to  promote 
inland  navigation ;  and  the  advantages,  gained  both  by  the  public  and  indivi- 
duals, have  been  attended  with  such  happy  consequences,  that  it  is  intersected 
in  all  manner  of  directions,  by  these  valuable  water-ways,  by  which  the  inha- 
bitants receive  reciprocally  the  comforts  of  the  respective  productions,  whether 
flowing  from  the  bounty  of  Providence,  or  the  effects  of  industry ;  and  by 
an  exchange  of  commodities,  render  partial  and  particular  improvements  the 
source  of  universal  abundance.1 

"  At  the  next  session  Mr.  Colles  renewed  his  application,  and  on  the  8th 
of  March,  1786,  a  committee  reported  favourably  on  a  memorial  of  Christo- 
pher Colles  and  his  associates,  and  leave  was  given  to  bring  in  a  bill  to  com- 
pensate them  for  the  purposes  specified  in  that  memorial. 

"  It  does  not  appear  that  any  further  steps  were  taken  on  the  part  of  Mr. 
Colles.  His  operations  probably  failed  for  the  want  of  subscribers  to  the  con- 
templated association.  It  is  not  a  little  remarkable,  that  this  project  com- 
menced so  soon  after  the  termination  of  the  revolutionary  war,  and  that  con- 
temporaneous efforts  were  made  in  some  of  the  southern  states." 

Notwithstanding  what  has  been  said  in  the  preceding  pages  of  the  sugges- 
tions made  by  General  Schuyler  in  1797,  and  by  Gouverneur  Morris  in  1800, 
relative  to  the  extension  of  the  navigation  to  Lake  Erie,  the  ensuing  extracts 
from  the  journals  of  the  legislature,  as  early  as  1786,  show  that  Mr.  Jeffrey 
Smith,  and  probably  Christopher  Colles,  must  have  preceded  them  in  this 
view  of  the  measure. 


284 


APPENDIX. 


Extracts  from  the  Journals  of  the  Assembly  of  the  State  of  New-York* 

House  op  Assembly,  Friday,  March  17,  1786. 

Mr.  Jeffrey  Smith  moved  for  leave  to  bring  in  a  bill,  entitled,  "  An  act  for 
improving  the  navigation  of  the  Mohawk  River,  Wood  Creek,  and  the  Onon- 
daga river,  with  a  view  of  opening  an  inland  navigation  to  Oswego,  and  for 
extending  the  same,  if  practicable,  to  Lake  Erie.'''' 

Ordered, — That  leave  be  given  accordingly. 

Mr.  Jeffrey  Smith  accordingly  brought  in  the  said  bill,  which  was  read  the 
first  time,  and  ordered  a  second  reading. 

Saturday,  March25, 1786. — Mr.  N.  Smith,  from  the  committee  of  the  whole 
house,  on  the  bill,  entitled,  "  An  act  for  improving  the  navigation  of  the 
Mohawk  River,  Wood  Creek,  and  the  Onondaga  River,  with  a  view  of  open- 
ing an  inland  navigation  to  Oswego,  and  for  extending  the  same,  if  practicable, 
to  Lake  Erie,"  reported,  that  the  committee  have  made  some  progress  therein, 
and  have  directed  him  to  move  for  leave  to  sit  again. 

Ordered, — That  the  said  committee  have  leave  to  sit  again. 

Wednesday,  March  29,  1786.— Mr.  Brinckerhoff,  on  behalf  of  Mr.  N.  Smith, 
from  the  committee  of  the  whole  house,  on  the  bill  entitled,  "  An  act  for  im- 
proving the  navigation  of  the  Mohawk  River,  Wood  Creek,  and  the  Onondaga 
River,  with  a  view  of  opening  an  inland  navigation  to  Oswego,  and  for  ex- 
tending the  same,  if  practicable,  to  Lake  Erie,"  reported  that  the  committee 


*  To  Colonel  Troup,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Assembly  in  that  year,  viz.  1786, 1  am 
indebted  for  reference  to  this  source  of  information.  In  a  letter  from  Colonel  Troup  he 
also  observes — "  That  on  reviewing  the  journals  of  the  Assembly,  he  finds  that  on  the  1st 
February,  1786, '  A  petition  from  Christopher  Colles,  with  a  report  of  the  practicability  of 
rendering  the  Mohawk  River  navigable,  was  referred  to  Jeffrey  Smith  and  others,'  and  adds, 
"  that  it  is  therefore  very  possible  that  Mr.  Colles  may  have  furnished  Mr.  Smith  with  the 
idea  of  extending  the  navigation  to  Lake  Erie." 


APPENDIX. 


•is.-) 


had  made  some  progress  therein,  and  had  directed  him  to  move  for  leave  to 
sit  again. 

Ordered, — That  the  said  committee  have  leave  to  sit  again. 

Tuesday,  April  4,  1780. — Mr.  Malcolm,  as  a  farther  amendment  to  a  mo- 
tion for  referring  some  other  subjects  to  a  committee  of  the  whole,  made  a 
motion  that  the  house  should  resolve  itself  into  a  committee  of  the  whole, 
on  the  bill,  entitled,  "  An  Act  for  improving  the  navigation  of  the  Mohawk 
River,  Wood  Creek,  and  the  Onondaga  River,  with  a  view  of  opening  an  in- 
land navigation  to  Oswego,  and  for  extending  the  same,  if  practicable,  to 
Lake  Erie.1' 

The  question  having  been  put  on  the  last  mentioned  motion,  it  passed  in 
the  negative. 

Wednesday,  April  5,  1786. — Mr.  N.  Smith,  from  the  committee  of  the 
whole,  on  the  bill,  entitled,  "  An  act  for  improving  the  navigation  of  the 
Mohawk  River,  Wood  Creek,  and  the  Onondaga  River,  with  a  view  of  open- 
ing an  inland  navigation  to  Oswego,  and  for  extending  the  same,  if  practica- 
ble to  Lake  Erie,"  reported,  that  the  committee  had  made  further  progress 
therein,  and  had  directed  him  to  move  for  leave  to  sit  again. 

Ordered, — That  the  said  committee  have  leave  to  sit  again  ;  but  the  session 
was  closed  without  the  further  re-consideration  of  that  subject. 


Note  R. — p.  92. 

Gov.  George  Clinton,  in  the  war  of  175G,  having  been  a  subaltern  officer  in 
the  enterprise  against  Fort  Frontinac  (now  Kingston)  and  Niagara,  where  Col. 
Prideaux  was  killed  by  the  bursting  of  a  cohorn  during  the  siege  of  that  fort, 
must  necessarily  have  led  him  to  a  familiar  acquaintance  with  the  water- 
courses of  that  country,  and  to  the  anticipations  he  has  expressed  in  the  com- 
munications referred  to :  he  accordingly,  very  early  after  the  revolution,  urged 

34 


286 


APPENDIX. 


upon  the  legislature  the  importance  of  improving  the  means  of  communication 
with  the  western  parts  of  this  state. 

In  his  speech  delivered  in  January,  1791,  among  other  subjects  of  interest 
he  observes — 

"As  our  frontier  settlements,  freed  from  apprehensions  of  danger,  are  rapidly 
increasing,  and  must  soon  yield  extensive  resources  for  profitable  commerce, 
this  consideration  forcibly  recommends  the  policy  of  continuing  to  facilitate 
the  means  of  communication  with  them,  as  well  to  strengthen  the  bands  of 
society,  as  to  prevent  the  produce  of  those  fertile  districts  passing  to  other 
markets."  On  this  part  of  the  speech  a  joint  committee  of  both  houses  was 
appointed  "  to  examine  what  obstructions  in  the  Hudson  and  Mohawk  rivers 
will  be  proper  to  be  removed  ;  and  to  report  thereon,  with  their  opinion  of 
the  most  eligible  mode  of  effecting  and  defraying  the  expense  thereof." — 
Shortly  afterwards  the  committee  reported  it  as  their  opinion,  "  That  the 
commissioners  of  the  land  office  should  be  authorized  to  make  and  offer  pro- 
posals to  such  persons,  or  association  of  persons,  as  will  contract  to  open  a 
water  communication  between  the  Mohawk  River  and  Wood  Creek ;  with 
power  to  grant  such  person  or  persons  an  exclusive  right  to  the  profits  of  a 
reasonable  toll  on  the  canal,  when  so  opened,  for  a  limited  term  of  years."* 
Pursuant  to  the  report,  a  bill  entitled  "  An  act  for  opening  communications 
between  Wood  Creek  and  the  Mohawk  River,  and  between  Lake  Champlain 
and  Hudson's  River,  and  for  removing  obstructions  in  the  Hudson  and  Mo- 
hawk rivers,  was  brought  into  the  House  of  Assembly;  and  it  became  a  law 
in  March  1791,  under  the  title  of  "An  act  concerning  roads  and  inland  navi- 
gation, and  for  other  purposes."  By  the  third  section  of  this  law  the  commis- 
sioners of  the  land  office  were  authorised  "to  cause  to  be  explored,  and  the 
necessary  survey  made,  between  the  Mohawk  River,  at  or  near  Fort  Stanwix, 
and  the  Wood  Creek,  in  the  county  of  Herkimer  ;  and  also,  between  the  Hud- 
son River,  and  the  Wood  Creek  in  the  county  of  Washington ;  and  to  cause 
an  estimate  to  be  made  of  the  probable  expense  that  would  attend  the  mak- 


*  See  Journals  of  the  Legislature. 


APPENDIX. 


ing  of  canals  sufficient  for  loaded  boats  to  pass,  and  to  report  the  same  to 
the  legislature  at  their  next  meeting:"  and  the  section  likewise  authorized  the 
treasurer  to  pay  the  commissioners  a  sum  not  exceeding  two  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars,  for  defraying  the  expense  of  the  service. 

The  commissioners  of  the  land  office,  in  the  exercise  of  their  authority, 
engaged  Mr.  Abraham  Hardenbergh,  a  skilful  and  experienced  surveyor,  to 
explore  and  survey  the  ground  between  the  Mohawk  River  and  Wood  Creek, 
in  the  county  of  Herkimer.  That  surveyor,  with  the  assistance  of  Mr.  Benj. 
Wright,  performed,  in  September  or  October  1791,  the  service  confided  to 
him  ;  and,  in  due  season  thereafter,  he  made  out  and  delivered  to  the  com- 
missioners, an  exact  return  of  his  survey,  together  with  a  corresponding  map 
to  explain  it. 

By  this  faithful  narrative  of  legislative  proceedings,  it  is  demonstrated  that 
the  policy  of  the  state,  which  aimed  to  improve  internal  navigation  in  the 
western  district  prior  to  1792,  was  limited  to  the  removal  of  obstructions  in 
the  Mohawk  River,  and  to  the  junction  of  that  river  with  Wood  Creek. — 
Strange  as  it  may  appear,  it  is  nevertheless  true,  that  the  eye  of  the  legisla- 
ture is  not  perceived*  to  have  cast  a  glance  at  the  interesting  country  between 
the  head  of  Wood  Creek  and  the  western  lakes  ;  nor  its  mind  to  have  be- 
stowed a  thought  on  the  practicability  of  intersecting  that  country  by  a 
canal,  which  would  mix  the  waters  of  the  lakes  and  Hudson's  River  in  a  com- 
mon stream,  destined  to  waft  to  our  proud  emporium  the  vast  productions  of 
a  large  portion  of  our  western  world  ! 

The  commissioners  of  the  land  office,  after  receiving  Mr.  Hardenbergh's 
return  of  survey,  reported  that  they  had  caused  "  to  be  explored,  and  the  ne- 
cessary surveys  made  of  the  grounds  situate  between  the  Mohawk  River,  at 
or  near  Fort  Stanwix,  and  the  Wood  Creek  in  the  county  of  Herkimer,  and 
also  between  Hudson's  River  and  the  Wood  Creek  in  the  county  of  Wash- 
ington ;  and  estimates  to  be  made  of  the  probable  expense  that  will  attend 


*  With  the  exception  of  the  measures  already  noticed  in  1784,  1785  and  1786,  upon  the 
motion  of  Christopher  Colics,  and  the  subsequent  bill  brought  in  by  Jeffrey  Smith. — D.  H. 


288 


APPENDIX. 


the  making  of  canals  sufficient  for  loaded  boats  to  pass."  And  the  commis- 
sioners added,  that  they  were  "  happy  to  find  that  these  objects  are  not  only 
practicable,  but  attainable  at  a  very  moderate  expense,  when  put  in  competi- 
tion with  their  advantages  and  importance  to  the  state." 

A  copy  of  this  report  was  ordered  by  the  commissioners,  the  3d  January 
1792,  to  be  "  delivered  to  the  Governor  for  the  purpose  of  being  transmitted 
by  him  to  the  legislature." 

Governor  Clinton,  in  his  speech  made  two  days  afterwards,  submitted  the 
report  to  the  deliberations  of  the  legislature,  in  terms  of  earnest  recommenda- 
tion. The  speech  stated  that  "  the  legislature,  at  their  last  meeting,  impressed 
with  the  importance,  not  only  to  the  agriculture  and  commerce  of  the  state, 
but  even  to  the  influence  of  the  laws,  of  improving  the  means  of  communica- 
tion, directed  the  commissioners  of  the  land  office  to  cause  the  ground  be- 
tween the  Mohawk  River  and  the  Wood  Creek  in  the  county  of  Herkimer, 
and  also  between  the  Hudson  River  and  the  Wood  Creek  in  the  county  of 
Washington,  to  be  explored  and  surveyed,  and  estimates  to  be  formed  of  the 
expense  of  joining  those  waters  by  canals.  I  now  submit  to  you  their  report, 
which  ascertains  the  practicability  of  effecting  this  object  at  a  very  moderate 
expense ;  and  I  trust  that  a  measure,  so  interesting  to  the  community,  will  con- 
tinue to  command  the  attention  due  to  its  importance."* 

The  report  of  the  commissioners,  with  other  papers  accompanying  the  Go- 
vernor's speech,  was  referred  on  the  7th  January,  by  the  House  of  Assembly, 
to  a  committee  that  was  discharged  from  service  without  being  allowed  time 
to  deliberate  ;  and  on  the  9th  January,  the  report  was  again  referred  by  a  re- 
solution, originating  in  the  house,  and  concurred  in  by  the  senate,  to  a  joint 
committee  of  both  houses. 

General  Williams  of  the  senate,  and  also  of  the  joint  committee,  on  the 
7th  February,  moved  the  senate  in  behalf  of  the  committee,  for  leave  to  bring 
in  a  bill  entitled,  "  An  act  for  constructing  and  opening  a  canal  and  lock  navi- 
gation, in  the  northern  and  western  parts  of  this  state."  Leave  was  granted, 
and  the  General  accordingly  brought  in  the  bill.t 


*  See  Journals  of  the  Legislature.  f  'bid- 


APPENDIX. 


289 


The  bill  brought  in  by  General  Williams,  after  labouring  its  progress  for 
several  weeks  in  the  senate,  was  forced  to  yield  to  a  new  bill,  entitled,  "  An  act 
for  establishing  and  opening  lock  navigations  within  this  state  the  declared 
intent  of  which  was  to  open  "  a  lock  navigation  from  the  navigable  part  of 
Hudson's  River,  to  be  extended  to  the  Seneca  Lake,  and  to  Lake  Ontario.'1'' — 
To  this  bill  various  amendments  were  made  by  the  house  :  some  of  which 
were  accepted,  and  others  disagreed  to  by  the  senate.  From  the  amendments 
disagreed  to,  the  house  promptly  receded  ;  and  the  bill  finally  passed  both 
houses  on  the  24th,  and  the  council  of  revision  on  the  30th  March,  1792,  in 
the  form  appearing  in  our  statute  book.* 


Note  S. — p.  93. 

Services  of  Elkanah  Watson  and  General  Schuyler. 

The  early  views  of  Elkanah  Watson  relative  to  the  internal  navigation  of 
the  State  of  New-York,  and  his  services  in  exploring  the  western  parts  of  the 
state  prior  to  the  act  of  1792,  introduced  and  supported  by  General  Philip 
Schuyler,  establishing  the  Inland  Lock  Navigation  Companies,  and  the  influ- 
ence of  those  measures  as  introductory  to  the  improvements  that  have  subse- 
quently taken  place,  are  fully  set  forth  in  the  following  communication  from  Col. 
Troup.  This  was  prepared  at  my  solicitation  in  answer  to  certain  queries 
addressed  by  me  to  that  gentleman.  Further  remarks  upon  the  merits  of  Mr. 
Watson  and  of  General  Schuyler  become  unnecessary. t 


*  See  Journals  of  the  Legislature. 

t  See  Discourse  delivered  before  the  New-York  Historical  Society  by  Chancellor  Kent, 
in  which  the  memorable  services  of  General  Schuyler  during  the  war  of  the  revolution,  in 
the  counsels  of  the  state,  and  in  the  promotion  of  internal  improvements,  are  ably  and  fully 
exhibited. 

"  In  1792,"  says  Chancellor  Kent,  "  he  was  very  active  in  digesting  and  bringing  to  ma- 
turity that  early  and  great  measure  of  state  policy,  the  establishment  of  companies  for  inland 
lock  navigation.    The  whole  suggestion  was  the  product  of  his  fertile  and  calculating 


290 


APPENDIX. 


Letter  from  Colonel  Robert  Troup. 

New- York,  22d  January,  1829. 

Dear  Sir, 

I  have  learnt  from  you  with  much  satisfaction,  that  you  are  engaged  in 
the  meritorious  work  of  rendering  justice  to  those  who  projected  our  canal 
policy,  and  also  to  those  who  assisted  in  giving  it  practical  effect. 

You  have,  likewise,  informed  me  of  your  solicitude  to  have  the  work  distin- 
guished for  its  strict  regard  to  truth  and  its  inflexible  impartiality  ;  and  towards 
obtaining  these  desirable  ends,  you  have  applied  to  me  for  the  facts  1  may 
possess  relative  to  the  claims  of  my  estimable  friend,  Mr.  Elkanah  Watson,  to 
a  portion  of  public  gratitude  for  his  labours  in  the  canal  vineyard. 

Having  been  unexpectedly  placed,  some  years  ago,  in  a  situation  that 
required  my  careful  examination  of  Mr.  Watson's  claims,  I  rejoice  that  I  can 
support  them  by  a  series  of  plain  facts,  which,  I  think,  will  justify  the  most 
favourable  opinion  of  his  usefulness. 

That  my  information  may  the  more  exactly  correspond  with  your  wishes,  I 
proceed  to  furnish  it  in  the  shape  of  precise  answers  to  the  following  questions, 
which  you  have  been  pleased  to  submit  to  my  consideration. 

1.  In  what  years  did  Mr.  Watson  first  direct  his  attention  to  the  western  part 
of  the  state  ?    And  how  far  did  he  proceed  in  exploring  it  ? 

2.  What  was  the  import  of  his  suggestions  to  General  Schuyler  respecting 
the  improvement  of  the  navigation  between  Hudson  River  and  the  western 


mind,  ever  busy  in  schemes  for  the  public  welfare.  He  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
direction  of  both  of  the  navigation  companies,  and  his  mind  was  ardently  directed,  for 
years,  towards  the  execution  of  those  liberal  plans  of  internal  improvement.  In  1796,  he 
urged  in  his  place  in  the  senate,  and  afterwards  published,  in  a  pamphlet  form,  his  plan  for 
the  improvement  of  the  revenue  of  this  state,  and  in  1797,  his  plan  was  almost  literally 
adopted,  and  to  that  we  owe  the  institution  of  the  office  of  comptroller.  In  1797,  he  was 
unanimously  elected,  by  the  two  houses  of  our  legislature,  a  senator  in  congress ;  and  he 
took  leave  of  the  senate  of  this  state  in  a  liberal  and  affecting  address,  which  was  inserted 
at  large  upon  their  journals." 


APPENDIX. 


291 


lakes  ?  And  did  the  suggestions  aim  at  the  improvement  of  the  natural  navi- 
gation, then  existing,  of  the  lakes,  rivers,  and  creeks,  of  our  western  country, 
and  as  a  medium  of  connexion  between  them  ?  or,  did  they  aim  at  the  con- 
struction of  a  continued  canal  ?  And,  if  the  latter,  what  was  to  be  its  course 
and  extent  ? 

3.  What  share  had  Mr.  Watson  in  procuring  the  passage  of  the  canal  act 
of  March  1792  ? 

In  answer  to  the  first  question  I  observe,  that  Mr.  Watson's  mind  naturally 
inclines  him  to  speculate  in  improvements  of  a  public  nature.  This  inclination 
has  derived  additional  strength  from  Mr.  Watson's  travelling,*  while  he  was 
young,  in  Flanders,  in  Holland,  and  in  England,  and  attentively  examining 
the  canals  he  met  with  ;  and  also  from  visiting  General  Washington,  at  Mount 
Vernon,  and  conversing  freely  with  him  on  his  favourite  project  of  uniting  the 
western  waters  with  the  Potomac.  Thus  prompted  by  natural  inclination, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  urged  by  patriotic  motives,  Mr.  Watson,  in  September 
1788,  made  a  journey  from  Albany  to  Fort  Stanwix,  now  called  Home,  where 
state  commissioners  were  holding  a  treaty  with  the  Indians  for  the  purchase  of 
their  western  lands.  What  Mr.  Watson,  in  this  journey,  saw  of  the  face  of 
the  country  and  of  the  courses  of  its  waters,  and  especially  the  situation  of 
Rome,  inflamed  his  imagination  with  the  lofty  conception  that,  by  removing 
obstructions  in  the  rivers  and  creeks,  and  cutting  canals  to  connect  them,  the 
state  might  open  a  navigable  communication  between  the  waters  of  the  Hud- 
son and  those  of  the  great  lakes ;  a  measure  which  Mr.  Watson  supposed 
would  necessarily  tend  "  to  divert  the  trade  of  the  lakes  from  Quebec  and 
Alexandria  to  Albany  and  New-York."! 

After  reflecting  for  several  years  on  this  important  measure,  and  becoming 
by  his  reflections  more  partial  to  it,  Mr.  Watson,  in  company  with  a  few 
friends,  in  the  autumn  of  1791,  travelled,  partly  by  land  but  chiefly  by  water, 
from  Schenectady  to  Geneva  in  Ontario  county.  Mr.  Watson  kept  a  particu- 
lar journal^  of  these  travels  ;  and  from  his  journal  it  appears,  that  he  carefully 


*  Sec  Mr.  Watson's  History  of  the  Western  Canals,  p.  8.     f  lb-  P-  30.     \  lb.  p.  25. 


292 


APPENDIX. 


explored  the  ground,  lakes,  rivers,  and  creeks,  lying  in  his  route,  and  was  san- 
guine in  his  opinion  of  the  feasibility  of  opening  a  navigable  communication 
between  the  Hudson  and  the  western  lakes.  And  dwelling,  almost  with  rap- 
ture, on  the  vast  benefits  such  a  communication  would  be  likely  to  produce, 
Mr.  Watson  pressed  it  in  emphatical  terms  on  the  "  policy  of  the  state." 
Anticipating  this  policy,  he  "  promised  to  notice  every  obstacle,  and,  according 
to"  his  "  best  judgment,  to  devise  plans  and  make  estimates."  And  he  further 
promised,  "  by  every  effort  in  his  power,  to  excite  the  public  attention  to  the 
grand  object ;"  insisting,  that  "  its  cost  would  bear  no  comparison  with  the 
immense  advantages  the  state. would  be  sure  to  derive  from  it." 

In  answer  to  the  second  question  I  observe,  that  in  January  1792,  Mr.  Watson 
delivered  his  journal  to  General  Schuyler,  who  was  then  a  leading  member  of 
our  senate.  With  his  journal,  Mr.  Watson  also  delivered  to  the  General  a 
report,*  framed  from  the  remarks  and  estimates  which  the  journal  contained. 
The  report  minutely  traced  the  route  of  the  proposed  navigation — described 
the  obstacles  to  be  removed — suggested  the  mode  of  removal — calculated  the 
probable  expense  of  some  of  the  operations — and  concluded  with  a  declara- 
tion, that  "  it  would  require  a  folio  volume  to  point  out  the  advantages  that 
would  result  to  the  union,  to  the  state,  and  to  individuals,  by  laying  the  navi- 
gation entirely  open." 

Mr.  Watson  did  not  extend  his  travels  to  Oswego,  because  the  fort,  at  that 
place,  was  still  possessed  by  British  troops,  owing  to  the  non-execution  of  the 
treaty  of  peace.  But,  in  his  journal,  Mr.  Watson  said  it  would  be  necessary 
to  improve  the  navigation  to  Oswego,  in  order  to  "  complete  the  chain  of 
water  communications  from  Ontario  to  the  Hudson." 

From  Mr.  Watson's  report,  it  is  obvious  that  the  route,  designated  by  him, 
was  from  Schenectady  to  the  Seneca  and  Ontario  Lakes  ;  and  that  he  con- 
templated the  improvement  of  the  natural  navigation  by  the  intermediate 
lakes,  rivers,  and  creeks,  as  a  medium  of  connexion  between  them,  without 
intending  a  continued  canal.    Indeed,  Mr.  Watson  himself,  speaking  of  his 


See  appendix  to  Colonel  Troup's  letter  to  B.  Livingston,  Esq.  p.  8. 


APPENDIX. 


293 


own  views  and  those  of  his  fellow-labourers,  frankly  disclaims  all  idea  of 
having  suggested  a  continued  canal,  or  attempted  more  than  to  improve  the 
natural  navigation  to  the  Seneca  and  Ontario  lakes,  when  he  says,  that  "  the 
utmost  stretch  of  our  views  was,  to  follow  the  track  of  nature's  canal,  and  to 
remove  natural  or  artificial  obstructions  ;  but  we  never  entertained  the  most 
distant  conception  of  a  canal  from  Lake  Erie  to  the  Hudson.  We  should  not 
have  considered  it  much  more  extravagant  to  have  suggested  the  possibility  of 
a  canal  to  the  Moon."* 

Such  having  been  Mr.  Watson's  views,  a  regard  to  distributive  justice  obliges 
me  to  remark,  that,  whatever  be  the  degree  of  praise  which  public  gratitude 
may  award  to  him  for  his  sagacious  suggestions  and  generous  labours,  to  im- 
prove the  natural  navigation  to  the  Seneca  and  Ontario  lakes,  it  should  not  be 
forgotten  that  equal  praise,  at  least,  will  be  rightly  due  to  the  enlightened  and 
patriotic  men  who  conceived,  and  to  those  who  prosecuted,  the  sublime  plan 
of  extending  the  navigation  to  Lake  Erie  by  a  continued  canal,  independent  of 
the  natural  navigation  by  the  lakes,  rivers,  and  creeks,  which  intersect  the 
country.  And  I  know  Mr.  Watson  too  well  to  suspect  that  this  sentiment 
will  not  receive  his  hearty  approbation. 

In  answer  to  the  third  question  I  observe,  that,  during  the  years  1791  and 
1792,  Mr.  Watson  and  General  Schuyler  both  lived  in  Albany,  and  were  in 
habits  of  intimacy.  Mr.  Watson,  besides  delivering  his  journal  and  report  to 
General  Schuyler,  had  frequent  conversations  with  him  on  the  matters  they 
contained.  In  these  conversations  it  was  agreed,  that  General  Schuyler  should 
use  his  exertions  and  influence  in  the  legislature  to  procure  the  passage  of  an 
act  to  incorporate  a  company  for  opening  the  navigation  from  the  Hudson  to 
the  Seneca  and  Ontario  lakes.  The  legislature  was  to  sit  in  New- York,  in 
the  beginning  of  January,  1792  ;  and  Mr.  Watson's  zeal  for  the  passage  of  the 
act  carried  him  to  New-York  early  in  the  session,  to  unite  his  exertions  and 
influence  with  those  of  General  Schuyler.    Mr.  Watson  accordingly  remained 


*  See  Mr.  Watson's  History  of  the  Western  Canals,  p.  100. 

35 


294 


APPENDIX. 


several  weeks  in  New-York,  and,  while  there,  he  afforded  every  aid  in  his 
power  to  promote  General  Schuyler's  success  :  and,  after  Mr.  Watson's  return 
to  Albany,  he  made  General  Schuyler  the  tender  of  another  visit  to  New-York, 
on  the  like  errand,  if  the  General  should  think  it  expedient. 

Mr.  Watson's  zeal,  however,  did  not  suffer  him  to  stop  here.  So  far  from 
it,  when  in  New-York,  he  addressed  to  the  legislature,  through  the  medium 
of  a  city  paper,  a  piece  under  the  signature  of"  a  Citizen,"*  in  which  he  repre- 
sented the  state,  from  its  geographical. position,  as  enjoying  advantages  for 
internal  intercourse  much  above  those  of  her  neighbours — communicated  sub- 
stantially the  information  contained  in  his  journal  and  in  his  report — extolled 
the  advantages  that  would  probably  flow  from  a  navigable  intercourse  with 
"  the  great  chain  of  lakes  forming  our  north-western  boundary" — and  recom- 
mended, with  enthusiastic  ardour,  the  improvement  of  the  navigation  to  the 
Seneca  Lake  ;  keeping  always  in  sight,  its  further  improvement  as  soon  as 
"  the  British  should  be  dispossessed  of  the  outlet  of  Oswego  river."  And  Mr. 
Watson's  zeal  for  improving  the  navigation  continuing  unabated,  he  once 
more  pressed  the  subject  on  the  notice  of  the  legislature,  with  fresh  and  cogent 
reasons,  in  a  piece  under  the  signature  of  "  an  Inland  Navigator,"t  which  he 
forwarded  from  Albany,  and  had  also  published  in  a  New-York  paper. 

It  unfortunately  happened  that  a  bill  was  brought  into  the  senate,  without 
the  concurrence  of  General  Schuyler,  the  objects  of  which  were  the  removal 
of  obstructions  in  the  Mohawk  River,  and  the  junction  of  that  river  with  Wood 
Creek ;  thus  appearing  to  relinquish  the  improvement  of  the  navigation  to 
the  Seneca  and  Ontario  lakes.  Whilst  this  bill  was  labouring  its  progress 
through  the  Senate,  Mr.  Watson,  then  being  at  Albany,  wrote  a  letter]:  to 
General  Schuyler,  in  which  he  observed,  that  he  had  not  been  "  inattentive 
to  the  progress  of  the  great  objects  of  the  western  canals  since  the  commence- 
ment of  the  session  of  the  legislature" — expressed  "  much  regret  that  no  one 
of  that  body,  except"  the  General,  "  appeared  to  soar  beyond  Fort  Stanwix" 


See  appendix  to  Col.  Troup's  letter  to  B.  Livingston,  Esq.  p.  14.    t  lb.  22.    }  lb.  13. 


APPENDIX. 


295 


— complained  "  that  stopping  at  Fort  Stanwix  would  be  half  doing  the  busi- 
ness11— and  he  declared  that  "  although  the  whole  plan  might  not  be  accom- 
plished for  years  to  come,  yet  as  the  improvements  on  Wood  Creek  were  indis- 
pensable to  making  the  contemplated  canal  at  Fort  Stanwix  of  any  value,  the 
charter  should  stretch  to  Seneca  Lake,  and  the  harbour  of  Oswego,  as  pointed 
out  in  his  journal,  and  in  conformity  to  (his)  conversations  with  the  General, 
so  as  to  admit  the  commerce  of  the  great  lakes  into  Hudson's  River,  and  vice 
versa." 

Mr.  Watson,  in  the  same  letter,  treated  the  "  enterprise11  as  a  w  proper  state 
object,1'  and  he  expressed  a  firm  belief  that  the  "  enterprise  would  succeed  if 
the  charter  be  so  shaped  as  to  embrace  the  objects,  contemplated  by"  him  and 
the  General,  and  "a  term  of  twenty  years  be  granted  for  the  completion  of 
the  plan  ;"  and,  in  reply  to  the  objection  that  undertaking  the  enterprise 
would  be  premature,  Mr.  Watson,  in  the  same  letter,  avowed  his  settled  con- 
viction that  "  the  enterprise  could  not  be  undertaken  too  soon,"  and  conse- 
quently he  "  determined"  to  do  his  "  utmost  to  co-operate  with"  the  General's 
"enlarged  views  of  the  very  important  subject." 

The  ardent  desire  of  Mr.  Watson  for  a  charter  on  a  scale  embracing  the 
navigation  of  the  Seneca  and  Ontario  lakes,  was  finally  gratified  by  the  pass- 
ing of  the  canal  act  of  March,  1792  ;  which  was  the  golden  fruit  of  General 
Schuyler's  eminent  talents  and  controlling  influence. 

General  Schuyler,  ever  disdaining  to  receive  honors  not  fairly  his  due,  often 
acknowledged*  to  that  excellent  man  and  public  spirited  citizen,  the  late 
Thomas  Eddy,  that  "  the  observations  made  by  Mr.  Watson,  in  his  tour  to  the 
western  part  of  the  state  in  1791,  first  turned  his  attention  to  that  important 
object,  and  induced  him  to  offer  to  the  senate  the  act  incorporating  the  western 
and  northern  inland  lock  navigation  companies." 

The  facts  which  I  have  thus  detailed,  will  be  found  in  Mr.  Watson's  "  His- 
tory of  the  Western  Canals,"  published  in  1820  ;  and  also  in  a  Letter  from 
me  "On  the  Lake  Canal  Policy,"  addressed  to  the  late  Brockholst  Livingston, 


*  See  appendix  to  Col.  Troup's  letter  to  B.  Livingston,  Esq.  p.  31. 


296 


APPENDIX. 


Esq.  one  of  the  associate  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States, 
and  published  in  1822. 

The  consideration  of  these  facts,  will  naturally  lead  to  the  conclusion,  that 
they  form  the  ground,  on  which  Mr.  Watson  rests  his  claims  to  a  portion  of 
public  gratitude  for  his  labours  to  improve  the  inland  navigation  of  the 
state. 

I  am  much  deceived  if  the  facts  do  not  irresistibly  show  that  Mr.  Watson's  la- 
bours have  been  useful.  Their  usefulness  consists  in  his  travelling  to  explore  our 
western  country,  its  lakes,  rivers,  and  creeks — in  his  observations  on  the  practi- 
cability of  a  navigable  communication  between  the  Hudson  and  the  western 
lakes — in  his  communications  to  Gen.  Schuyler — in  his  concerting  with  the 
General  a  plan  of  navigation  embracing  the  western  lakes,  to  be  submitted  to 
the  Legislature — and,  lastly,  in  his  unwearied  pains  to  assist  Gen.  Schuyler  to 
obtain  a  preference  for  the  concerted  plan,  by  the  passing  of  the  canal  act 
of  March,  1792. 

There  can  be  no  reasonable  objection  against  admitting  that  this  act  was 
the  commencement  of  our  state  canal  policy.  Before  the  existence  of  the 
act,  nothing  appeared,  in  the  community,  on  the  subject  of  canalling,  except 
the  different  commercial  speculations  of  individuals  respecting  it.  To  dignify 
their  speculations  with  the  title  of  state  policy,  would  be  preposterous.  That 
the  policy  pursued  by  a  state,  can  only  be  known  from  the  schemes  adopted  by 
its  constituted  authorities,  and  from  the  measures  taken  to  carry  such  schemes 
into  effect,  is  a  position  too  evident  to  require  any  illustration.  It  was  the 
act,  therefore,  that  first  gave  body  and  life  to  the  floating  ideas  about  canalling, 
by  the  incorporation  of  a  company  to  undertake  the  expensive  and  arduous 
enterprise  of  opening  a  canal  navigation  to  unite  the  waters  of  the  Hudson 
with  those  of  the  western  lakes,  and  by  endowing  the  company  with  rights 
to  authorise,  and  privileges  to  facilitate  its  successful  prosecution. 

To  maintain  that  the  act  was  unimportant  in  its  consequences,  would  be 
to  incur  the  censure  of  violating  the  dictates  of  sound  sense,  and  disregard- 
ing the  plain  language  of  experience.  Although  the  funds  of  the  company 
incorporated  were  wholly  inadequate  to  the  construction  of  canals  calculated 
to  promote  the  highest  interests  of  the  state ;  yet  the  operations  of  the  com- 


APPENDIX. 


297 


pany,  proceeding  from  the  employment  of  their  scanty  funds,  considerably 
reduced  the  rates  of  transportation,  and  thereby  proved  not  a  little  beneficial 
to  trade.  But  the  most  important  consequence  of  the  act  was,  that  even  the 
limited  benefits  it  produced  to  trade,  served  to  keep  the  public  eye  fixed  on 
the  highly  interesting  objects  of  canal  policy,  and  eventually  to  induce  our 
wise  and  patriotic  rulers  to  adopt  a  system  of  canalling  which,  from  the  gran- 
deur of  its  design,  and  the  magnanimity  of  its  execution,  has  become  the  pride 
of  the  state,  and  the  admiration  of  the  Union. 

Allow  me,  dear  sir,  to  conclude  this  letter  with  the  assurance  of  my  un- 
feigned gratification  that  it  has  fallen  to  your  lot  to  perform  the  meritorious 
work  in  which  you  are  engaged;  for  your  able,  elegant,  and  impartial  eulo- 
gium  on  the  illustrious  Dc  Witt  Clinton,  persuades  me  to  believe  the  work 
will  be  performed  in  a  manner  justly  entitling  it  to  the  praise  of  every  unpre- 
judiced and  intelligent  reader,  as  well  of  the  present  age  as  of  posterity. 

With  the  most  perfect  esteem  I  remain,  dear  sir, 

Your  humble  servant, 

ROBERT  TROUP. 

To  David  Hosack,  M.  D. 


Connected  with  this  part  of  the  subject,  it  gives  me  pleasure  to  give  place 
to  the  following  interesting  letters  from  the  late  President  of  the  United  States, 
John  Adams,  addressed  to  Mr.  Watson,  in  the  years  1822  and  1823. 

Letter  from  President  Adams  to  Elkanah  Watson. 

Quincey,  23d  December,  1822. 

Dear  Sir, 

I  have  received  and  heard  read  Colonel  Troup's  letter  to  Judge  Living- 
ston of  the  23d  January  last. 

You  need  not  wish  a  more  ingenuous,  a  more  able,  or  a  more  spirited  vindi- 
cation of  your  claims  to  the  first  suggestion  of  the  canal  policy  in  New-York  ; 


298 


APPENDIX. 


and  of  General  Schuyler's  sagacious  patriotism  in  adopting  and  supporting 
your  ideas  in  the  legislature.  You  have  both  great  merit,  but  still  1  think  Mr. 
Clinton  has  also  great  merit  in  supporting  your  plan.  It  is  right  to  preserve 
the  memory  of  the  first  discoverers  and  inventors  of  useful  improvements  for 
the  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  mankind. 

The  gentlemen  who  were  my  cotemporaries  at  Philadelphia  used  to  say, 
that  the  first  discovery  of  the  efficacy  of  lightning-rods  was  Ebenezer  Ken- 
nesly,  a  young  gentleman  of  an  ardent  thirst  for  science,  who  drew  lightning 
from  the  clouds  by  his  iron-pointed  kites,  before  Dr.  Franklin  had  attempted 
any  thing  on  the  subject. 

Why,  indeed,  may  we  not  say,  that  this  discovery  was  made  in  the  time  of 
the  Roman  Emperor  Tiberius,  for,  in  his  reign,  the  astronomical  and  astrolo- 
gical poet  Manilius  wrote  these  lines,  "  eripuit  jovi  fulmen  viresque  tonandi  ?" 
Yet,  all  this  diminishes  in  no  degree  the  great  merit  of  Dr.  Franklin  in  ma- 
turing, digesting,  and  propagating  to  the  world,  his  system  of  lightning-rods. 
It  would  be  well  to  ascertain,  if  it  were  possible,  the  first  discoverer  of  the  in- 
valuable power  of  steam.  While  we  should  do  honour  to  his  memory,  we 
should  not  withhold  our  admiration  and  gratitude  from  the  great  Fulton,  whose 
steam  navigation  will  be  of  greater  benefit  to  mankind  than  Franklin's  philo- 
sophy, though  that  is  very  great.  While  I  wish  to  do  honour  to  these  great 
men,  I  ought  to  bear  my  testimony  to  the  merit  of  your  long  exertions,  which 
I  think  have  been  very  useful  to  our  country.  With  much  pleasure  I  repeat 
the  assurance  of  the  long  and  continued  esteem  and  affection  of  your  friend 
and  humble  servant, 

JOHN  ADAMS. 


Letter  from  John  Adams  to  Elkanah  Watson. 

Quincey,  28th  February,  1823. 

My  dear  friend, 

I  thank  you  for  your  letter  of  the  12th  instant,  and  for  the  commu- 
nication of  Judge  Troup's  letter. 


APPENDIX. 


299 


I  am  very  much  obliged  to  him  for  his  civility  to  me,  as  well  as  for  his  testi- 
monies in  honour  of  your  meritorious  exertions  for  the  public  good. 

Your  active  life  has  been  employed,  as  far  as  I  have  known  the  history  of  it, 
in  promoting  useful  knowledge  and  useful  arts  ;  for  which  I  hope  you  have 
received,  or  will  receive,  a  due  reward.  Shafts  are  wanton  sports ;  and 
secret  and  public  malice  are  common  to  you,  and  all  men  who  distinguish 
themselves, 

"  Envy  does  merit,  as  its  shade  pursue, 

And  like  the  shadow  proves  its  substance  true." 

This,  or  something  more  sublime,  must  be  the  consolation  of  us  all. 

Your  friend,  by  proxy, 

JOHN  ADAMS. 

Elkanah  Watson,  Esq.  Albany. 


Note  T  —  p.  93. 

Claims  of  Jesse  Hawley. 

It  has  already  been  alleged  by  Mr.  C.  Brodhead,  Mr.  Geddes,  Mr.  Simeon 
De  Witt,  and  others,  that  the  views  entertained  by  Mr.  Hawley,  relative  to 
the  Erie  Canal,  were  not  original,  but  had  been  derived  from  conversation 
with  those  gentlemen.  In  order  to  ascertain  how  far  this  is  correct,  I  applied 
through  the  medium  of  our  mutual  friend  James  Rees,  Esq.  of  Geneva,  to  Mr. 
Hawley,  for  information  on  this  head — his  communications  are  added.  But 
whatever  may  have  been  the  sources  of  his  information,  it  is  certain  that  his 
Essays,  published  in  the  Genesee  Messenger,  materially  contributed  to  en- 
lighten the  public  mind  with  regard  to  the  projected  canal  to  Erie  by  the  interior 
or  overland  route,  and  in  the  course  in  which  it  has  been  prosecuted.  The  first 
board  of  commissioners  too,  in  exploring  the  country,  it  is  well  ascertained,  took 
a  copy  of  those  Essays  with  them  on  their  journey,  and  have  expressed  their 
approbation  of  them,  and  their  sense  of  the  valuable  information  they  contain. 
Another  fact  illustrative  of  their  value,  is,  that  Mr.  Hawley's  calculations  at 


300 


APPENDIX. 


that  early  day,  of  the  cost  of  the  canal,  corresponds  very  nearly  with  the 
amount  of  the  expenditure  actually  incurred.  The  author  of  Tacitus,  in  re- 
lation to  the  merits  of  Mr.  Hawley,  makes  the  following  observations. 

"  To  an  intelligent  and  observing  mind,  the  physiognomy  of  the  country, 
west  of  Rome  to  Lake  Erie,  must  present  great  facilities  for  artificial  naviga- 
tion. The  abundant  supply  of  water  from  the  intermediate  lakes,  rivers, 
springs,  and  creeks — the  general  and  gradual  ascent  to  the  west — the  great 
extent  of  champaign  country — and  the  wide  valleys  through  which  canals 
might  pass,  are  too  obvious  not  to  strike  the  observation  of  any  traveller. 

"At  what  time  this  channel  of  communication  was  first  orally  suggested, 
and  by  whom,  it  is  impossible  now  to  ascertain.  The  letters  published  in  the 
New-York  Evening  Post,  to"  show  that  Mr.  Gouverneur  Morris  entertained 
this  project  as  far  back  as  1800  and  1801,  prove  directly  the  reverse  ;  for  in 
his  communication  to  General  Lee,  he  says:  "As  far  as  I  can  judge  from 
observation  and  information,  the  communication  between  Lake  Ontario  and 
the  Hudson  is  not  only  practicable,  but  easy,  though  expensive  and  on  the 
call  of  Lee  for  a  full  developement  of  his  views,  he  is  wholly  silent  as  to  the 
Erie  communication. 

"  The  first  hint  on  this  subject  which  I  have  seen  in  print,  was  suggested  by 
Jesse  Hawley,  Esq.  of  Ontario  county — a  gentleman  of  an  ingenious  and  re- 
flecting mind.  On  the  27th  of  October,  1807,  he  commenced  a  series  of 
essays  on  internal  navigation,  under  the  signature  of  Hercules,  in  the  Ontario 
Messenger,  printed  at  Canandaigua,  which  extended  to  fourteen  numbers — 
At  the  close  of  the  first  number  he  says — "  In  my  next  number  I  intend  to 
point  out  that  improvement  which  I  conceive  to  be  of  the  greatest  importance 
of  any  which  can  be  undertaken  in  the  United  States,  and  for  the  promotion 
of  which  these  numbers  were  principally  written — a  canal  from  the  foot  of 
Lake  Erie  into  the  Mohawk  Rwer."  In  the  second  number  he  says,  that  his 
chief  object  is  to  induce  a  belief  of  the  propriety  of  an  actual  survey  :  and  in 
the  fifth  number  he  estimates  the  expense  at  six  millions  of  dollars. 


APPENDIX. 


301 


Letter  from  Jesse  Hawley,  to  David  Hosack,  M.D. 

Rochester,  24th  July,  1828. 

Deah  Sir, 

I  received  a  letter  a  few  days  since  from  James  Rees,  Esq.  of  Geneva, 
who  informs  me,  that  he  lately  saw  you  and  understood  that  you  were  collect- 
ing materials  for  a  Discourse  on  the  death  of  Governor  Clinton,  and  that  he 
had  made  mention  of  me  to  you  as  probably  being  able  to  furnish  some  facts 
relating  to  the  Erie  Canal,  etc. ;  and  requested  me  to  write  you  of  what  I  did 
know,  tt-c.  Perhaps  I  know  of  but  very  few  of  the  facts  relating  to  Mr.  Clinton 
and  the  canal, but  what  are  already  publicly  known,  and  they  are  merely  incidental 
and  mostly  relate  to  myself.  Such  as  they  are,  since  Mr.  Rees  has  had  the 
goodness  to  refer  to  me,  I  will  narrate,  and  leave  you  to  judge  whether  they 
will  be  of  any  service  to  you. 

In  April  1805,  then  a  merchant  at  Geneva  and  concerned  in  forwarding  flour 
from  Mynderse's  mills,  owing  to  the  very  imperfect  navigation  of  the  old  Mo- 
hawk canal,  and  various  methods  being  proposed  for  improving  it,  1  suggested 
the  idea  of  an  overland  canal  from  the  foot  of  Lake  Erie,  at  Buffalo,  (as  con- 
taining a  head  and  great  reservoir  of  water  to  feed  it,)  to  Utica,  and  thence 
down  the  Mohawk  to  Hudson  River.  These  impediments  to  navigation  would 
often  call  forth  the  expression  of  our  wishes,  that  an  arm  of  the  North  River 
had  been  extended  into  the  Genesee  country  by  the  Author  of  nature,  for  our 
facilities  of  transport ; — but  no  one  yet  had  suggested  the  idea  of  effecting  this 
object  by  a  canal !  I  occasionally  mentioned  my  suggestion  to  my  friends, 
and  was  generally  laughed  at  for  my  whim  ! 

A  reverse  in  my  business  landed  me  on  the  gaol  limits  of  Ontario,  in  Canan- 
daigua,  in  August  1807.  Fully  persuaded  of  the  practicability  of  such  canal ; 
and  having,  thus  far,  lived  to  but  little  purpose,  I  thought  I  might  render  myself 
useful  to  society  by  giving  publicity  to  the  suggestion,  and,  in  October  1807, 
commenced  writing  on  the  subject  in  the  Genesee  Messenger,  a  newspaper 
then  published  at  Canandaigua,  which  I  continued  to  fourteen  numbers,  in 
April  1808.    My  plan  was  a  canal  of  100  feet  wide  and  10  feet  deep,  laid  on 

3G 


302 


APPENDIX. 


an  inclined  plane,  from  Buflalo  to  Utica,  and  thence  down  the  channel  of  the 
Mohawk,  with  improvements  in  it,  to  Schenectady,  and  thence  over  the  portage 
to  Albany,  for  a  time — to  be  constructed  by  the  national  government,  rather 
than  by  an  incorporated  company  of  individuals — not  conceiving,  then,  the 
state  treasury,  or  finances,  adequate  to  the  undertaking.  These  essays  were 
treated  with  much  ridicule,  and,  by  some,  were  considered  as  "  the  effusions 
of  a  maniac."    The  writer  was  unknown  for  some  time. 

In  1809,  Gen.  Micah  Brooks,  a  member  from  Ontario,  borrowed  and  took 
them  with  him  to  Albany ;  but  nothing  was  done  by  the  legislature  of  that 
session,  and  he  left  them  with  Simeon  De  Witt,  Esq.  the  surveyor  general,  to 
investigate  the  subject. 

In  1810,  the  legislature  appointed  the  first  board  of  commissioners  to  explore 
and  report,  of  which  the  surveyor  general  and  Mr.  Clinton  were  members. 
The  former  took  my  essays  with  him  on  the  route.  After  their  return,  he  sent 
them  back  to  me  with  the  compliments  of  the  commissioners  for  their  use. 

In  their  report,  of  1811,  they  embraced  several  leading  points  which  I  had 
advanced  in  my  essays,  viz.  of  its  being  a  national  work  and  proposing  to  con- 
struct it  on  an  inclined  plane.  The  former  they  applied  to  congress  for,  but 
failed  to  obtain.  The  latter,  as  from  Buffalo  to  Albany,  was  found  impracti- 
cable, owing  to  the  great  elevation  of  the  hills  at  the  Little  Falls  on  the 
Mohawk  River.  I  never  heard,  that,  under  these  circumstances,  Mr.  Morris 
made  any  claim  to  the  original  idea  of  the  overland  route.  I  believe  Mr.  Mor- 
ris, if  alive,  would  say  for  himself,  that  his  first  idea  was  the  lake  route,  and  the 
locking  up  of  the  Niagara  Falls  into  Lake  Erie.  Such  was  decidedly  the  idea 
of  Messrs.  Gallatin,  Porter,  and  Woodward,  who  wrote  on  the  subject  after 
I  had  written ;  and  in  which  Judge  Woodward  wa9  very  tenacious,  terming 
the  overland  route,  then  under  discussion,  a  short-sighted  and  selfish  policy  in 
New-York. 

In  1812,  Mr.  Clinton  borrowed  my  essays,  through  my  brother,  with  whom 
he  had  become  acquainted  as  a  member  of  the  masonic  fraternity  and  special 
business  together,  and  not  then  acquainted  with  me — and  returned  them, 
through  Mr.  Granger,  in  1820.  These  are  the  chief  incidents  that  occurred 
between  us. 


APPENDIX. 


303 


I  have  given  more  detail  than  the  subject  abstractedly  required,  wishing  to 
rebut  an  error  that  some  person  has  fallen  into,  contained  in  Mr.  De  Witt's 
letter,  printed  in  vol.  I.  page  39,  of  Mr.  Secretary  Yates's  Canal  History,  in 
which  Judge  Geddes  is  made  to  say,  that  "  his  communication  to  me  of  Mr. 
Morris's  idea  of  tapping  Lake  Erie  was  the  origin  of  the  subject  in  my  mind, 
and  from  which  I  was  induced  to  write  my  essays."  I  saw  Judge  Geddes  at 
Utica,  in  April  1804,  for  the  first  time — he  returning  from  the  legislature,  and 
I  going  to  New- York.  I  saw  him  again  at  Geneva,  in  the  winter  of  1806, 
visiting  his  relations,  with  whom  I  boarded ;  this  was  about  ten  months  after 
I  had  suggested  the  idea :  and  again  at  his  house  in  Onondaga,  in  September 
1811 — he  had  then  surveyed  a  part  of  the  route,  under  the  direction  of  the 
first  board  of  commissioners,  when  we  conversed  on  the  subject,  I  believe, 
for  the  first  time — for  I  do  not  recollect  that  any  mention  was  made  of  it  when 
we  met  at  Geneva  ;  if  there  was,  I  presume  that  I  first  spoke  of  it ;  nor  of 
hearing  that  Mr.  Morris  had  written  on  it  until  several  years  after  I  had  writ- 
ten and  the  work  was  commenced  ;  and  I  think  Mr.  Morris  does  not  use  the 
term,  tapping  Lake  Erie.  There  was  no  writer  on  the  idea  of  tapping  Lake 
Erie,  or  the  overland  route  for  the  canal,  publicly  known  in  Ontario  at  the 
time  I  wrote  my  essays.  This  the  ridicule  of  the  day,  on  the  subject,  suffi- 
ciently proves  ;  for,  had  any  been  known,  they  would  have  been  brought 
forward  against  my  claims  to  originality  of  the  measure.  I  was  too  disadvan- 
tageous^ situated  in  life  to  obtain  a  better  access  to  the  private  correspondence 
of  those  gentlemen,  who  had  written  on  the  subject,  than  the  generality  of  the 
public.  Mine  was  a  public  correspondence,  without  obscurity  ;  and  I  can  say 
with  great  sincerity  of  heart,  that  I  knew  of  no  competitor  with  me  for  the 
reputation  of  both  the  conception  and  publication  of  the  idea  of  the  overland 
route,  until  after  the  work  was  commenced  and  became  a  popular  theme  ; — 
then  it  was,  the  epistolary  writings  of  Messrs.  Watson,  Morris,  and  others,  were 
drawn  from  their  private  archives  and  made  to  claim  rank  of  their  primitive 
dates. 

The  great  merit  of  Mr.  Clinton,  in  relation  to  the  canal,  consists  in  his 
having  put  his  powerful  mind  to  the  investigation  of  the  subject,  and,  probably 
with  great  labour,  comprehending  the  magnitude  of  its  utility  and  the  splendour 


304 


APPENDIX. 


of  its  enterprise  ;  and  failing  to  render  it  a  national  work,  he  conceived  the 
idea  of  rendering  it  a  state  undertaking  and  property — an  idea  which  had 
escaped  all  others,  from  the  supposed  inadequacy  of  the  state  resources  to 
accomplish  it — resolutely  shouldering  the  responsibility  of  the  measure,  at  the 
hazard  of  his  popularity  and  reputation — while  others  were  confronting  him 
with  assertions  that  it  would  require  the  revenue  of  all  the  kingdoms  of  the 
earth,  and  the  population  of  China,  to  accomplish  it. 

Although  others  claim  it  for  him,  yet  Mr.  Clinton  never  claimed  for  himself 
the  original  idea  of  the  canal.  In  his  essays  to  Colonel  Troup,  written  in 
1820,  he  assigned  that  to  me.  Also,  in  his  letter  to  me  of  4th  March,  1822, 
he  says — "  I  have  no  hesitation  in  stating,  that  the  first  suggestion  of  a  canal 
from  Lake  Erie  to  the  Hudson  River,  which  came  to  my  knowledge,  was  com- 
municated in  essays  under  the  signature  of'  Hercules,'  on  internal  navigation, 
published  in  the  Ontario  Messenger  at  Canandaigua.  The  first  number  ap- 
peared on  the  27th  October,  1807,  and  the  series  of  numbers  amounted,  I 
believe,  to  fourteen." — "  The  board  of  canal  commissioners,  which  made  the 
first  tour  of  observation  and  survey  in  1810,  were  possessed  of  the  writings  of 
1  Hercules,'  which  were  duly  appreciated  as  the  work  of  a  sagacious,  inven- 
tive, and  elevated  mind  ;  and  you  were,  at  that  time  and  since,  considered  the 
author." 

Being  called  on  by  an  old  acquaintance  to  write  you,  to  have  omitted  would 
have  been  disrespectful  to  him  as  well  as  yourself. 

While  writing,  I  ask  your  liberty  to  add  a  few  remarks  more  in  relation  to 
myself.  I  claim  the  original  and  the  first  publication  of  the  overland  route 
of  the  Erie  Canal  from  Buffalo  to  the  Hudson — that,  in  it,  I  have  been  a  bene- 
factor to  the  public  in  general,  and  to  the  state  of  New-York  in  particular — 
and  I  bless  the  author  of  my  existence,  that  I  have  lived  to  see  it  finished, 
which  was  almost  beyond  the  hope  of  my  expectations  when  I  was  writing 
my  essays — and,  as  chairman  of  the  Rochester  visiting  committee,  to  deliver 
the  first  address  at  the  opening  of  its  celebration  at  Buffalo.  But  this  is  all  the 
notice  that  I  have  ever  received  from  the  state,  or  people,  of  New-York,  for 


APPENDIX. 


305 


it  in  any  wise  :  nor  would  I  complain  of  that,  having  in  the  mean  time,  by 
laborious  industry,  attained  from  bankruptcy  to  a  comfortable  moderate  com- 
petency, and  pleasantly  located  within  a  mile  of  this  village  and  the  canal. 

I  am,  respectfully,  yours,  &c. 

J.  HAWLEY. 

Shortly  after  the  receipt  of  this  letter,  I  was  favoured  with  another  commu- 
nication from  Mr.  Hawley,  bearing  date  the  24th  September,  forwarding,  at 
the  same  time,  a  copy  of  the  Essays,  with  the  following  remarks: — "  At  your 
request,  I  loan  you  my  essays  on  the  canal,  having  taken  them  out  of  their 
bindings  for  the  purpose ;  being  the  only  set,  I  know  of,  in  preservation,  and 
intending  to  deposite  them,  eventually,  in  the  archives  of  the  secretary's  office 
of  New-York,  in  order  to  preserve  the  evidences  of  my  claim  to  the  first  writ- 
ings on  the  subject,  I  am  choice  of  them.  But  they  are  antique — written 
before  the  science  of  canalling  was  known  in  American  literature,  when  a 
treatise  was  no  where  to  be  found  among  us,  and  maps  the  only  references 
that  could  be  obtained — by  a  native  mind,  taught  only  in  a  country  school  of 
Connecticut,  common  at  the  period  of  his  childhood  ;  they  will  require  many 
of  those  charitable  allowances  to  be  made  on  their  perusal  at  the  present 
day." 

As  the  following  Essays  of  Mr.  Hawley,  published  in  1807  under  the  signa- 
ture of  '  Hercules,'  appear  to  have  been  the  first  publication  of  the  plan  of  a 
direct  overland  communication  from  Lake  Erie  to  the  Hudson,  and  have  been 
found  highly  useful  by  the  first  board  of  commissioners,  as  they  have  publicly 
acknowledged,  when  they  were  exploring  the  route  which  Mr.  Hawley  desig- 
nated, and  which  has  been  adopted  as  the  course  of  the  canal,  I  am  induced 
to  give  them  a  place  in  this  work.  Although  fourteen  of  those  essays  appeared 
in  the  Genesee  Messenger,  a  paper  then  extensively  circulated  in  the  western 
parts  of  this  state,  no  other  entire  copy,  but  that  from  which  they  are  now  re- 
printed, is,  at  this  day,  to  be  obtained.  They,  therefore,  cannot  fail  to  be 
acceptable,  not  only  as  containing  much  interesting  matter,  but  in  connexion 


306 


APPENDIX. 


with  the  preceding  communications,  as  illustrative  of  the  well  established 
claims  of  the  author  to  the  originality  of  the  views  they  develope. 

While  these  papers  show  in  the  writer  superior  sagacity  and  knowledge,  I 
feel  that  I  perform  a  duty  to  the  community  in  attempting  to  preserve  them 
from  oblivion.  From  these  it  will  also  appear,  that  the  merits  of  Mr.  Hawley, 
by  some  singular  combination  of  circumstances,  have  not  hitherto  been  duly 
estimated.  When  it  is  considered,  that  in  these  numbers  Mr.  Hawley  points 
out  the  track  of  a  canal  from  the  foot  of  Lake  Erie  to  the  Mohawk  River 
nearly  corresponding  with  the  route  of  the  present  canal,  urges  the  propriety 
of  an  immediate  survey,  and  estimates  the  expense  with  wonderful  accuracy, 
as  has  since  been  ascertained,  at  six  millions  of  dollars  !  it  is  certainly  sur- 
prising, amidst  the  numerous  publications  on  this  subject,  that  Mr.  Watson 
and  Mr.  Colden*  are  the  only  persons  who  have  rendered  that  justice  to  Mr. 
Hawley  which  his  merits  and  services  claim  from  this  state.t 

Introductory  Essay  by  Jesse  Hawley. \ 

In  consequence  of  the  difference  and  conflict  of  political  sentiments  which  pervade  the 
United  States,  respecting  the  administration  of  the  government,  and  the  appropriation  of 
their  resources,  it  is  probable  that  it  will  be  left  to  the  future  politician  to  duly  appreciate 
and  justly  admire  the  ingenuity  and  patriotism  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  which  devised  and  promul- 


*  See  Watson's  History,  and  Colden's  Memoir. 

t  Were  it  necessary,  I  could  still  adduce  many  other  collateral  proofs  in  my  possession, 
lately  received  from  Mr.  Hawley  ;  but  these,  upon  the  publication  of  this  volume,  with  the 
other  original  documents  from  which  I  have  composed  this  work,  will  be  deposited,  for  pre- 
servation, in  the  archives  of  the  New- York  Historical  Society. 

X  This  first  essay,  as  Mr.  Hawley  informs  me,  was  printed  at  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania, 
in  the  paper  called  the  Commonwealth,  on  the  14th  January,  1807,  under  the  signature  of 
"Hercules."  Having  failed,"  he  says,  "  in  my  mercantile  business  at  Geneva,  I  fled  to 
Pittsburgh  in  the  autumn  of  1806,  and  there  met  with  Mr.  Jefferson's  second  inaugural 
message.  Not  knowing  whither  I  was  going,  or  when  I  should  return,  I  sketched  that  essay, 
in  order,  as  I  then  thought,  to  preserve  it  from  oblivion,  saying,  '  this  project  is  probably 
not  more  than  twelve  months  old  in  human  conception.'  " 


APPENDIX. 


307 


gated  the  idea  of  appropriating  the  surplus  revenue  of  the  United  States,  after  the  payment 
of  the  national  debt,  to  the  improvement  of  canals,  roads,  &c.  which  he  threw  out  in  his 
second  inaugural  speech. 

It  appears  by  the  president's  last  message,  that  there  is  a  greater  surplus  of  revenue  than 
was  anticipated  at  the  time  the  terms  for  the  discharge  of  the  national  debt  were  stipulated  ; 
so  as  to  leave  a  sum  of  money  in  the  treasury  without  any  appropriation;  for  the  use  of 
whicli  he  has  suggested  its  application  to  the  improvement  of  some  great  national  object,  the 
undertaking  of  which  is  to  be  immediately  commenced. 

I  will  presume  to  assert,  that  the  president  himself  will  agree  that,  if  not  even  before, 
at  least,  next  to  the  utility  of  a  National  Institute,  is  the  improvement  of  the  navigation 
of  our  fresh  waters. 

This  admitted,  the  next  inquiry  is — where  and  what  waters  can  be  improved,  to  afford  the 
most  extensive  and  immediate  benefit  to  the  agricultural  and  commercial  interests  of  the 
United  States? 

With  due  deference  to  the  president  of  the  United  States,  and  the  committees  appointed 
by  the  national  legislature,  who  now  have  the  subject  under  consideration,  I  will  presume 
to  suggest  to  them,  that  improvement  which  would  afford  the  most  immediate,  and  conse- 
quently the  most  extensive  advantages  which  any  other  in  the  United  States  can  possibly 
do.  It  is  the  connecting  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie  and  those  of  the  Muhaivk  and  Hudson 
rivers  by  means  of  a  canal. 

As  this  project  is  probably  not  more  than  twelve  months  old  in  human  conception,  but 
imperfect  data  can  be  furnished  on  the  subject  at  present — such  as  I  am  possessed  of,  I  will 
add. 

It  ought  to  commence  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Erie,  as  soon  as  a  suitable  place  can  be  found 
to  afford  a  draft  on  its  waters — to  gain  and  preserve  a  moderate  descent  of  ground  it  will 
have  to  pursue  a  north-eastern  course  for  some  miles,  it  then  may  pursue  an  east  course  and 
cross  the  Genesee  River,  somewhere  above  its  Falls,  thence  near  to,  and  probably  in  the 
channel  of,  Mud  Creek,  an  outlet  of  Canandaigua  Lake,  and  follow  them  into  Seneca  River ; 
but  leaving  that,  up  stream  to  Jack's  Rifts,  for  the  purpose  of  preserving  the  head  of  water 
— thence  meandering  along  between  the  high  and  low  grounds  of  Onondaga  and  Oneida 
counties,  going  south  of  their  lakes,  and  let  it  fall  into  the  Mohawk  and  mingle  with  its 
waters  somewhere  above  Utica. 

The  distance  from  Buffalo  village,  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Erie,  to  Canandaigua,  is  ninety  miles 
according  to  the  present  road — from  thence,  on  the  Seneca  turnpike  to  Utica,  is  one  hun- 
dred and  twelve  miles — making  two  hundred  and  two  miles  from  Lake  Erie  to  Utica.  It 
is  possible  that  the  angles  of  the  roads  arc  equal  to  the  necessary  meanderings  of  the  canal 
through  so  extensive  and  level  a  country.  By  Ellicot's  map  of  the  Holland  company's  tract, 
the  level  of  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie  are  four  hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  that  of  Onta- 


308 


APPENDIX. 


rio.  The  level  of  the  Mohawk  above  that  of  Ontario  is  not  correctly  known,  but  we  can 
approximate  the  fact  from  the  following  comparative  statement.  From  the  canal  at  Rome 
or  Fort  Stanwix,  down  Wood  Creek  to  Oneida  Lake,  is  twenty  miles  through  a  tract  of  very 
level  land,  say  ten  feet  fall.  Oneida  Lake  thirty  miles  in  length,  say  three  feet  fall — from 
thence  to  Three  River  Point,  eighteen  miles,  say  twelve  feet  fall — thence  to  Oswego  Falls, 
twelve  miles,  say  ten  feet  fall.  The  Falls  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  say  fifteen  feet  fall — thence 
to  Lake  Ontario  twenty-four  miles,  say  fifteen  feet  fall,  makes  the  elevation  of  Rome 
sixty-five  feet  above  the  waters  of  Ontario.  From  Rome  to  Utica  sixteen  miles  by  land, 
and  twenty-eight  by  water  with  good  current,  say  twenty-five  feet  fall,  which  deduct  from 
sixty-five  leaves  forty  feet,  the  elevation  of  the  Mohawk  at  Utica  above  the  Ontario.  As 
the  whole  of  this  calculation  is  conjectured  without  ever  seeing  any  part  of  the  ground 
except  the  villages  of  Utica  and  Rome,  it  cannot  be  pretended  that  it  is  correct;  yet  it  is 
presumed  to  be  sufficiently  large.  Deduct  the  difference  between  Utica  and  Ontario  (forty 
feet)  from  the  difference  between  Erie  and  Ontario,  (four  hundred  and  fifty  feet)  and  it 
leaves  four  hundred  and  ten  feet  fall,  between  the  waters  of  Erie  and  the  Mohawk  at  Utica, 
which  will  average  two  feet  a  mile  on  the  whole  distance. 

The  result  of  this  crude  calculation  is  sufficient,  and  merely  intended  to  demonstrate  the 
possibility,  and  even  practicability,  of  the  undertaking.  When  we  consider  the  Herculean 
task  performed  on  sundry  canals  in  Europe,  the  crossing  Genesee  river  and  other  streams 
which  intersect  the  course  of  the  route,  cannot  be  admitted  as  insuperable  obstacles  to  the 
undertaking. 

Pretending  to  no  knowledge  in  the  science  of  canalling,  consequently  no  calculation  on 
the  probable  expenses  will  be  hazarded — but  the  level  country  through  which  it  would  take 
its  course,  is  such,  that  more  than  half  the  distance  would  require  no  further  digging  than  to 
sink  the  ditch  sufficient  for  the  depth  of  water  and  its  necessary  banks ;  and  it  is  obvious  that 
it  would  require  but  few  stone.  The  western  part  of  the  Genesee  county  and  Onondaga 
county  afford  a  sufficient  supply.  Other  tracts  no  doubt  would  furnish  at  least  partial  sup- 
plies by  occasional  beds  and  quarries.  The  principal  use  of  stone  contemplated  here  is  to 
wall  the  banks  of  the  ditch.  Where  stone  was  scarce,  timber  could  be  substituted  in  the 
first  essay,  and  stone  could  be  boated  to  supply  its  place  when  decayed. 

The  magnitude  of  this  improvement  is  far  beyond  the  reach  of  individual  capital  in  Ame- 
rica, for  the  present  age,  and  probably  for  a  century  to  come.  The  present  governor  of  the 
state  of  New- York  has  indeed  suggested  the  idea  of  calling  into  its  aid  British  capitalists; 
but  as  their  object,  by  vesting  their  capital  in  foreign  stock,  would  be  the  double  considera- 
tion of  having  that  stock  permanent,  and  to  receive  from  it  a  rate  of  interest  above  that 
which  they  can  obtain  for  their  capital  in  their  own  market ;  consequently  both  the  immense 
agricultural  and  commercial  interests  of  America,  flowing  through  this  channel,  must  for 
ever,  by  an  inexhaustible  load  of  taxes,  be  tributary  to  foreign  capitalists. 


APPENDIX. 


309 


America  already  suffers  by  foreign  capitalists  drawing  from  her  resources  large  sums,  in 
premiums,  from  her  stocks  and  new  lands  ;  from  which  she  can  have  no  possible  reciprocity 
of  interest,  except  merely  in  the  contemplation  of  redressing  at  some  future  day,  the  wrongs 
of  foreign  nations,  in  spoliations  on  her  commerce,  by  a  sequestration  of  this  foreign  capital. 
And  unless  the  government  holds  the  idea  of  sequestration  in  reserve,  as  the  dernier  resort 
for  the  redress  of  foreign  aggressions,  there  can  scarcely  be  a  palliative  argument  offered 
by  them  for  their  toleration  to  foreigners,  of  foreign  residence,  by  their  superior  wealth  draw- 
ing a  private  revenue  from  our  best  resources.  We,  therefore,  can  alone,  with  confidence, 
turn  our  attention  and  our  best  hopes  to  a  patriotic  government,  whose  treasury  must  in  a 
few  years,  be  amply  competent  to  the  undertaking;  which,  when  finished,  may  be  given  to 
us  for  an  insignificant  tax. 

When  completed,  this  would  afford  a  course  of  navigation  from  New-York,  by  sloop  na- 
vigation to  Albany,  160  miles — from  Albany  to  Buffalo,  by  boat  navigation,  300  miles — from 
Buffalo  to  Chicago  by  sloop  navigation,  1200  miles;  making  a  distance  of  16G0  miles  of  in- 
land navigation  up  stream,  where  the  cargo  has  to  be  shifted  but  three  times. 

The  probable  charges  of  freight  would  be — from  New-York  to  Albany  (the  present  price 
on  small  packages  of  merchandise  up  freight  is  about)  five  dollars  per  ton,  from  thence  to 
Buffalo  (full  large  enough,  including  no  charge  for  lockage)  fifty  dollars  per  ton,  from  thence 
to  Chicago,  say  large  fifty  dollars  per  ton — is  equal  to  105  dollars  per  ton,  or  five  cents  per 
pound  nearly.  From  Chicago  harbour  it  might  be  continued  up  its  river,  by  portage,  into 
and  down  the  Illinois,  and  up  the  Mississippi ;  and  into,  as  yet,  almost  unknown  regions. 

The  navigation  of  the  four  largest  lakes  in  the  known  world,  together  with  all  their  tribu- 
tary streams — the  agricultural  products  and  the  commerce  of  all  the  surrounding  country, 
would  pass  through  this  canal — and  even  the  fifth  (Ontario)  would  become  its  tributary. — 
The  additional  duty  on  the  Canadian  trade  alone  would  defray  the  annual  repairs  of  the 
canal. 

The  vast  extension  of  and  facility  to  commerce,  together  with  the  additional  spur  to  in- 
dustry which  this  canal  would  give,  would  in  twenty  years  redeem  the  principal  and  inte- 
rest of  their  expenditure,  at  the  rate  of  their  present  imposts,  by  its  additional  increase. 

Its  invitation  to  the  culture  of  the  fertile  soil  surrounding  these  extensive  navigable 
waters,  would  be  such,  that  in  a  few  generations  the  exhibition  of  their  improvements  and 
the  display  of  their  wealth,  would  even  scarcely  be  equalled  by  the  old  world. 

HERCULES. 


37 


310 


APPENDIX. 


[For  the  Genesee  Messenger.] 
OBSERVATIONS  ON  CANALS. 
No.  I. 

"  I  entertain  vast  ideas  of  the  destinies  of  these  United  States.  A  giant  in  its  infancy, 
to  what  point  may  we  not  aspire  in  our  maturity,"  said  a  writer  under  the  signature  of  His- 
toeicus,  in  a  late  New-York  paper. 

When  we  survey  our  vast  extent  of  territory,  nearly  equalling  that  of  Europe  ;  nearly 
equal  to  it  in  its  difference  of  latitude ;  fully  equal  to  it  in  the  variety  of  its  climate  and 
the  exuberance  of  its  soil ;  equal  in  perfection,  and  importantly  exceeding  it  in  the  variety 
of  its  vegetable  productions  ;  nor  inferior  to  it  in  the  animal  and  mineral  kingdoms.  That 
two-thirds  of  this  territory  remains  yet  a  forest,  holding  out  the  prospects  of  wealth,  and 
affording  an  easy  and  certain  competency  to  all — when  we  view  our  natural  resources  un- 
surpassed by  that  of  any  other  nation ;  our  citizens  possessing  an  equal  share  of  acquire- 
ments in  the  more  useful  branches  of  literature  and  the  arts  and  sciences ;  and  when  we 
behold  our  inestimable  improvements  in  the  science  of  politics,  having  refined  it  down  to  its 
elementary  principles,  well  may  we  exclaim  with  the  writer,  that  we  entertain  vast  ideas  of 
the  destinies  of  these  United  States. 

But  to  what  are  we  destined  ? — Servilely  to  copy  the  splendid  folly  of  all  ancestry,  or  to 
borrow  wisdom  at  their  expense  ? — Nations  have  often  mistaken  the  true  path  to  wealth 
and  greatness,  by  pursuing  the  mere  phantoms  of  glory.  In  early  ages  they  were  infatuated 
with  the  idea  of  erecting  monuments  of  national  grandeur.  The  impious  project  of  a  Ba- 
bel ;  the  renowned  Pyramids ;  the  magnificent  Hanging  Gardens  ;  the  stupendous  Colos- 
sus ; — all  were  but  as  so  much  splendid  folly  and  prodigality. 

The  stupendous  monument  of  England,  is  her  navy.  This  reads  something  more  than 
folly  and  prodigality.   To  its  oppression  on  human  sweat  and  toil,  it  adds  blood  and  carnage. 

Mr.  Pinkerton,  after  noticing  twenty  or  thirty  canals  in  England,  adds  the  following  in- 
structive apothegm.  "  When  we  reflect  that  all  these  laudable  efforts  of  improvement  and 
civilization  have  been  executed  within  these  forty  years,  there  is  room  for  a  well-grounded 
hope  that  in  the  course  of  centuries  the  kingdom  [of  England]  may  be  intersected,  like 
another  China,  to  the  inconceivable  advancement  of  agriculture,  commerce  and  the  national 
industry  and  prosperity.  The  sum  already  expended  in  these  noble  works  has  been  com- 
puted at  five  millions  five  hundred  thousand  pounds  sterling ;  but  how  much  more  usefully 
employed  than  in  fruitless  wars,  which  consume  fifty  millions  in  one  year !"  What  a  satire  on 
wars,  navies,  and  standing  armies ! 

So  far  as  nations  before  us  have  made  the  experiment,  internal  improvements  have  proved 


APPENDIX. 


:m 


the  certain  and  more  speedy  road  to  national  greatness.  China  affords  us  the  most  instruc- 
tive lessons  on  the  subject.  She  extensively  abounds  in  them.  Her  walls  and  her  canals 
are  alike  useful.  The  one,  to  preserve  her  tranquillity ;  the  other,  to  promote  her  wealth. 
She  prides  not  herself  in  armies  nor  navies. 

What  would  have  been  the  present  state  of  internal  improvements  in  Europe,  with  her 
numerous  and  some  of  the  largest  streams  in  the  eastern  hemisphere,  had  she  borrowed  the 
example  of  China  ?  The  toil,  blood,  and  treasure  which  have  been  expended  in  futile  wars 
for  princely  domination,  would  have  canalled  and  gardened  the  whole  of  its  territory  ! 

Can  the  philosopher  inform  us  why  Europe  is  more  sanguinary  than  Asia  ?  Is  it  owing  to 
its  government  or  its  climate  ?  The  common  purpose  of  government  is  protection.  But 
can  it  not  be  made  to  do  more  ?  Make  it  to  act  like  an  incorporate  body  in  cultivating  its 
resources,  and  thus  to  diffuse  competency,  comfort,  and  even  wealth  to  its  individual 
members. 

To  the  cultivation  of  the  arts  of  peace,  we  have  to  ask  our  government  to  adopt  another 
principle  :  that  of  a  nation's  wealth  best  consists  in  the  amount  of  the  individual  property 
of  its  subjects.  This  is  best  promoted  by  applying  the  surplus  revenue  of  the  state  to  in- 
ternal improvements,  roads,  canals,  &c. 

Navigation  offers  the  most  cheap,  familiar,  and  extensive  intercourse  with  distant  places. 
This,  therefore,  first  deserves  attention.  The  science  of  hydraulics  is  invaluable  to  the 
United  States.  Our  territory,  from  one  extremity  to  the  other,  is  either  intersected  or  in- 
terlocked with  current  waters  or  inland  seas.  Here  is  a  vast  field  opened  to  American  en- 
terprise. To  encounter  the  huge  length  and  stern  current  of  the  Mississippi  and  its  nume- 
rous branches — the  torrent  waters  of  the  St.  Lawrence — or  the  precipiced  bed  and  impetu- 
ous stream  of  the  Susquehannah — to  improve  the  old  beds,  or  give  new  channels  to  the 
smaller  streams,  and  to  convert  our  lakes  into  reservoirs  for  canals. 

The  late  improvements  in  the  steam-boat  has  surmounted  the  first  of  these  difficulties. — 
The  others  require  much  ingenuity  and  capital  bestowed  upon  them  for  their  completion. 
When  effected,  they  will  serve  as  labour-saving  machines  in  facilitating  the  transport  of 
produce  to  market.  By  lessening  the  expenses  of  transport,  its  value  would  be  enhanced. 
By  substituting  water  for  land  carriage,  much  of  manual  and  animal  labour  would  be  reserved 
for  the  improvement  of  our  forests  and  the  culture  of  our  fields. 

In  my  next  number  I  intend  to  point  out  that  improvement  which  I  conceive  to  be  of  the 
greatest  importance  of  any  which  can  be  undertaken  in  the  United  States  ;  and  for  the  pro- 
position of  which  these  numbers  were  principally  written — A  canal  from  the  foot  of 
Lake  Erie  into  the  Mohawk. 

HERCULES. 


312 


APPENDIX. 


No.  II. 

Every  man  of  observation,  who  has  travelled  the  western  counties  of  this  state,  has 
doubtless,  noticed  the  quality  of  soil  gradually  improving  from  Albany  westward,  and  which 
appears  evident  at  every  fifty  miles  nearly  sufficient  to  pay  the  additional  charges  of  trans- 
port on  the  surplus  produce  of  that  part  of  the  country.  This  increase  in  the  quality  of  the 
soil  continues  to  this  village  (a  distance  of  more  than  200  miles)  if  not  to  Batavia.  In  be- 
holding these  equalising  gifts  of  nature,  we  are  led  to  admiration  and  gratitude  to  its  provi- 
dent and  bounteous  author.  But  when  this  sentiment  escapes  our  mind,  and  we  turn  our 
reflections  to  the  fatigue  and  toil  of  so  much  land  transport,  we  are  apt  to  exclaim, — Why 
was  not  the  parent  of  nature  so  thoughtful — why  was  he  not  so  kind,  as  to  give  this  country 
a  river  navigation  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  lakes,  like  that  to  Albany  ? 

Why  these  murmurs?  The  Creator  has  done  what  we  can  reasonably  ask  of  him.  By  the 
Falls  of  Niagara  he  has  given  a  head  to  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie  sufficient  to  flow  into  the 
Atlantic  by  the  channels  of  the  Mohawk  and  the  Hudson,  as  well  as  by  that  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence. He  has  only  left  the  finishing  stroke  to  be  applied  by  the  hand  of  art,  and  it  is 
complete  !    Who  can  reasonably  complain  ? 

The  canal  had  best  commence  so  near  to  the  foot  of  Lake  Erie  as  the  current  of  Niagara 
River  will  admit  by  affording  a  draft  on  its  waters,  and  run  nearly  parallel  to  that  river  a 
sufficient  distance  (perhaps  some  miles)  to  obtain  a  fall  which  will  preserve  it  a  current ; 
thence  winding  easterly  and  crossing  the  Tontawanta,  perhaps  a  few  miles  from  its  mouth, 
by  an  aqueduct  bridge ;  thence  nearly  due  east,  preserving  the  height  of  the  Limestone 
ridge,  and  crossing  Genesee  River,  also  by  an  aqueduct  bridge,  and  most  probably  above  the 
upper  falls ;  thence  continuing  its  course  and  running  near  to,  and  probably  into,  the  west 
branch  of  Mud  Creek ;  pursuing  its  channel  with  improvements  into,  and  thence  down  the 
Seneca  River,  to  somewhere  about  the  head  of  Jack's  Rifts ;  thence  leaving  that  river  to 
the  north  and  run  along  the  foot  of  the  hills  and  high  grounds  of  Onondaga  and  Oneida 
counties,  going  south  of  their  lakes,  and  discharge  it  into  and  mingle  its  waters  with  the 
Mohawk  somewhere  about  Utica. 

As  it  is  probable  that  no  additional  head  could  be  gained,  nor  even  wanted,  by  continuing 
it  beyond  Utica,  the  more  probable  place  of  junction  is  at  or  above  that  place. 

Mr.  Ellicott,  in  noticing  (on  his  map  of  the  Holland  purchase)  the  ridge  of  Limestone 
which  runs  through  the  country  from  Canada,  across  the  Strait  of  Niagara,  through  the 
purchase  eastward,  states  the  "  elevation  of  the  surface  of  Lake  Erie  to  be  450  feet  above 
that  of  Ontario— that  the  ridge  is  nearly  perpendicular— the  lands  from  its  base  northward 
to  Lake  Ontario,  and  from  its  summit  southward  and  along  the  eastern  shore  of  Lake  Erie 
is  nearly  level." 


APPENDIX. 


313 


The  project  of  this  canal  is  founded  on  the  presumptive  correctness  of  these  data  ;  and 
considering  the  attention  which  was  paid  to  accuracy  in  the  survey  of  that  tract,  we  may 
venture  to  place  dependence  upon  it.  While  I  hope  I  am  sufficiently  correct  in  my  remarks 
for  the  main  purpose  of  the  subject,  yet  I  will  here  observe,  that  having  never  seen  any  part 
of  the  route  spoken  of,  but  the  villages  at  the  two  extremes,  and  the  account  which  I  have 
given  being  obtained  from  general,  rather  than  particular  information,  probably  I  may  be 
minutely  incorrect  in  some  particulars.  My  chief  object  is,  to  point  out  a  sufficient  proba- 
bility to  induce  a  belief  of  the  propriety  of  an  actual  survey. 

The  level  of  the  Mohawk  at  Utica,  above  the  surface  of  Lake  Ontario,  is  not  correctly 
known  ;  but  after  subtracting  the  difference  of  the  elevation  of  the  Mohawk,  between  Rome 
and  Utica,  from  that  between  Rome  and  Lake  Ontario,  we  shall  find  the  level  of  Utica, 
about,  or  perhaps  below,  that  of  Thrce-Rivers-Point.  We  may,  therefore,  safely  conjecture 
that  the  elevation  of  the  Mohawk  at  Utica  is  not  50  feet  above  that  of  Lake  Ontario.  Pre- 
sume it  at  50  feet,  and  subtract  it  from  450,  will  give  400  feet  for  the  elevation  of  Lake  Erie 
above  the  Mohawk  at  Utica. 

The  distance  from  the  village  of  Buffalo,  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Erie,  to  Utica,  by  the  present 
road,  is  about  200  miles. 

It  is  not  improbahle  that  the  angina  of  flip  roads  arp  nearly  equal  to  the  necessary  mean- 
derings  of  the  canal.  On  this  presumption,  it  would  average  about  two  feet  fall  per  mile  in 
the  canal. 

The  ridge  of  Limestone  declines  from  Niagara  to  the  eastward.  This  will  appear  evident 
on  comparing  the  height  of  the  Falls  of  the  Genesee  and  Oswego  Rivers,  with  the  Falls  of 
Niagara.  From  such  information  as  I  am  able  to  collect,  the  lower  falls  of  the  Genesee  is 
90 — the  second  40 — and  the  third  12  feet,  making  in  the  whole  150  feet;  the  distance  from 
the  upper  falls  to  Lake  Ontario  is  about  10  miles.  Add  the  fall  for  the  current  of  the  river 
to  the  height  of  the  falls,  and  we  may  presume  the  upper  falls  to  be  about  170  or  180  feet 
above  the  surface  of  Ontario.  I  am  not  informed  of  the  height  of  Oswego  Falls,  but  I  pre- 
sume they  will  be  found  still  lesson  a  comparison. 

Ten  or  twelve  miles  to  the  east  of  Genesee  River  the  ridge  begins  to  spread,  and  this 
decline  is  still  more  evident  by  the  waters  running  eastward.  In  the  north-eastern  part  of 
this  county,  the  ridge  becomes  more  extended,  and  is  scarcely  perceptible ;  yet  it  preserves  a 
height  sufficient  to  direct  the  waters  to  flow  into  Seneca  River. 

In  this  proposed  canal,  I  think  it  may  be  fairly  presumed  that  we  have  the  grand  deside- 
ratum of  nature,  viz.  an  inexhaustible  fountain  of  water,  with  an  absolute  head  and  fall, 
which  may  be  pitched  and  guaged  to  any  dimensions  required.  Also  an  improvement  of  the 
navigation  of  the  Mohawk  by  the  addition  of  its  waste  waters. 

Nor  do  I  conceive  the  idea  to  be  vain,  or  even  incorrect,  in  saying,  that  it  appears  as  if  the 
Author  of  nature,  in  forming  Lake  Eric  witli  its  large  head  of  waters  into  a  reservoir,  and  his 


314 


APPENDIX. 


having  formed  this  Limestone  ridge  into  an  inclined  plane,  had  in  prospect  a  large  and  valua- 
ble canal,  connecting  the  Atlantic  and  the  continental  seas,  to  be  completed  at  some  period 
in  the  history  of  man,  by  his  ingenuity  and  industry  ! 

In  my  next,  I  shall  offer  some  suggestions  on  its  size,  and  hazard  conjectures  on  the  pro- 
bable expense  of  the  canal. 

HERCULES. 


No.  III. 

Before  I  proceed  to  the  intended  subject  for  this  number,  I  have  to  correct  an  error  in  my 
statement  of  the  Genesee  falls.  .  Although  this  error,  when  corrected,  will  be  in  favour  of 
the  proposed  canal,  yet  propriety  would  impose  on  me  the  obligation  to  rectify  any  error, 
even  at  the  expense  of  the  project.  The  information  of  both  the  other  and  the  present 
statements,  are  derived  from  persons  residing  near  the  banks  of  that  river ;  yet  the  latter 
comes  in  the  more  positive  terms,  which  give  it  the  greater  authenticity. 

The  lower  falls  are  96,  the  second  14,  the  third  80,  the  fourth  (by  some  called  a  rapid)  10 
feet — making  200  foot  height  ahnvp  thp  IpvpI  nf  Ontario,  and  spvpn  milps  distant  from  it. 
The  first  two  miles  up  the  stream  from  the  upper  falls  are  rapids,  the  falls  of  which  are  esti- 
mated at  100  feet  in  that  distance.  The  elevation  of  that  river  at  the  ferry  or  late  bridge, 
on  the  main  road,  is  estimated  to  be  nearly  equal  to  that  of  Lake  Erie.  The  ferry  is  23  miles 
distant  from  Lake  Ontario.  This  statement,  indeed,  makes  the  third  falls  but  20  feet  higher 
than  the  other ;  but  with  other  falls  above  it  so  circumstanced  as  that,  probably,  every  ad- 
vantage can  be  taken  of  them,  in  case  it  be  practicable  to  cross  higher  up  than  the  third 
falls,  and  the  canal  probably  might  be  guaged  to  that  accurate  decline  as  to  require  but  one 
lock  from  Buffalo  to  this  river ;  and  that  to  be  fixed  near  to  the  inlet  for  the  purpose  of 
countervailing,  at  a  future  day,  the  asserted  or  apprehended  sinking  of  the  waters  in  Lake 
Erie.  If  it  can  command  this  advantage  of  the  Genesee  falls,  I  think  it  not  improbable 
that  the  canal  may  be  thrown  as  far  south  as  Cayuga  Lake,  or  near  its  outlet.  From  this 
to  Utica,  it  will  then  have  about  the  same  fall  which  the  Seneca  River  has  from  this 
to  Three-Rivers-Point. 

ITS  PROBABLE  SIZE. 

My  hints  on  this  subject  will  chiefly  consist  in  the  mention  of  the  size  of  others.  As  I 
shall  have  occasion  for  other  references  to  the  quoted  canals,  I  take  the  liberty  of  making 
my  extracts  in  full,  at  once. 

Mr.  Pinkerton  gives  the  following  account  of  Languedoc.  "  This  celebrated  canal  was 
commenced  and  completed  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  by  Riquet,  the  engineer,  under  the 
auspices  of  that  able  minister,  Colbert,  in  fifteen  years — from  1066  to  1681.  The  mechani- 
cal ignorance  of  the  period  was  surprised  at  a  tunnel  near  Bezeirs  of  only  720  feet  [in 


APPENDIX. 


315 


length]  lined  with  free-stone.*  This  noble  canal  begins  in  the  bay  of  Languedoc ;  and  at 
St.  Fcrrol  [which  I  take  to  be  the  highest  point  of  land]  is  a  reservoir  of  595  acres  of  water. 
It  enters  the  Garonne  River  one-fourth  mile  below  the  city  of  Toulouse.  The  breadth, 
including  towing  paths,  is  144  feet — depth  C  feet — lengtli  64  French  leagues,  or  about  1 00 
English  miles.  The  expense  of  it  was  more  than  half  a  million  sterling — [nearly  2,500,000 
dollars.]" 

The  American  Encyclopedia  gives  the  following  additional  information  to  his.  "  It  be- 
gins with  a  large  reservoir,  4000  paces  in  circumference  and  24  feet  deep,  which  receives 
many  springs  from  the  mountain  Noire. 

"  The  canal  is  supplied  by  a  number  of  rivulets,  and  is  furnished  with  104  locks  of  about 
8  feet  rise  each.  In  some  places,  it  passes  over  [aqueduct]  bridges  of  vast  height — and  in 
others,  it  cuts  through  solid  rock  for  1000  paces  [nearly  182  rods.]"  Phil.  cd.  vol.  4,  p.  79. 

On  the  canal  of  Clyde,  in  Scotland,  Mr.  Pinkerton  gives  the  following  information. 

"  It  connects  the  friths  of  Forth  and  Clyde  together.  Its  breadth,  at  the  surface,  is  56' 
feet — its  depth  7  feet — the  locks  75  feet  long,  their  gates  20  wide.  It  is  raised  from  the 
Carron  by  20  locks,  in  a  tract  of  10  miles,  to  the  amazing  height  of  155  feet  above  the  me- 
dium of  full  sea  mark.  At  the  20th  lock  begins  the  canal  of  partition  on  the  summit  between 
the  east  and  west  seas,  which  continues  18  miles  on  a  level,  near  Glasgow.  In  some  places 
the  canal  is  carried  through  mossy  ground,  and  in  others  through  solid  rock.  In  the  fourth 
mile  of  the  canal  there  are  ten  locks,  and  a  fine  aqueduct  bridge  which  crosses  the  great  road 
leading  from  Edinburgh  to  Glasgow.  The  expenses  of  this  mile  amounted  to  1 8,000  pounds 
sterling,  [equal  to  80,000  dollars.] 

"  At  Kirkintullock,  the  canal  is  carried  over  the  water  of  Logic,  on  an  aqueduct  bridge, 
the  arch  of  which  is  90  feet  broad,  and  was  built  at  three  different  operations  of  30  feet 
each,  having  only  one  centre  of  30  feet  broad,  which  was  shifted  on  small  rollers  from  one 
stretch  to  another.  Although  this  was  a  new  thing  and  never  attempted  before  with  an 
arch  of  this  size,  yet  the  joinings  are  as  fairly  equal  as  any  other  part  of  the  arch.  The 
whole  is  thought  to  be  a  capital  piece  of  masonry.  There  are,  in  the  whole,  18  drawbridges 
and  15  aqueduct  bridges  of  considerable  size,  besides  small  ones  and  tunnels. 

"  The  supplying  the  canal  with  water  was,  of  itself,  a  great  work.  One  reservoir  is 
above  24  feet  deep,  and  covers  a  surface  of  50  acres.  Another  consists  of  70  acres,  and  is 
banked  up  by  a  sluice  22  feet.  The  length  of  the  canal  is  precisely  35  miles,  and  no  work 
of  the  kind  can  be  more  ably  finished.    It  was  completed  in  1790." 

The  American  Encyclopedia,  beside  the  above,  has  the  following  particulars.  "  It  rises 
and  falls  1G0  feet  by  means  of  39  locks  ;  20  on  the  east  and  19  on  the  west  side  (as  the  tide 
does  not  ebb  so  low  in  the  Clyde  by  9  feet  as  it  does  in  the  Forth.)    Vessels  drawing  8  feet  of 


*  A  tunnel  is  the  piercing  or  boring  a  passage  through  a  bill  to  preserve  the  proper  level. 


316 


APPENDIX. 


water,  and  not  exceeding  19  feet  beam  and  73  feet  in  length,  pass  with  ease.  [This  is  the 
exterior  dimensions  of  the  boat — it  is  probable  her  interior  measurement  would  give  about 
100  tons  burthen.]  The  canal  is  about  8  feet  deep.  It  passes  through  moss,  quicksand, 
gravel,  and  rocks;  up  precipices  and  over  valleys.  It  runs  18  miles  on  a  level :  in  this 
course,  for  a  considerable  way,  the  ground  is  banked  about  20  feet  high,  and  the  water  is  1G 
feet  deep,  and  two  miles  of  it  is  made  through  a  deep  moss.  The  aqueduct  bridge  over  the 
Kilven  is  supposed  to  be  the  greatest  of  the  kind  in  the  world ;  it  consists  of  four  arches 
and  is  420  feet  in  length,  exhibiting  a  very  singular  effort  of  human  ingenuity  and  labour. 
The  canal,  when  finished,  will  cost  200,000  pounds,  [nearly  900,000  dollars.] 

"  It  is  the  greatest  of  the  kind  in  Britain,  and,  without  doubt,  will  be  of  great  national 
utility  ;  though  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  it  had  not  been  executed  on  a  still  larger  scale,  the 
locks  being  too  short  for  transporting  large  masts." 

Mr.  Pinkerton,  in  speaking  of  the  canal  of  Kiel  in  Denmark,  observes,  "  This  canal  is 
intended  to  unite  the  Baltic  Sea  with  the  river  Eydar,  which  flows  into  the  German  Sea. 
It  is  about  20  English  miles.  The  breadth  100  feet  at  the  top  and  54  at  bottom.  Its  least 
depth  about  10  feet,  so  as  to  admit  vessels  of  about  120  tons  burthen.  It  was  begun  in  1777 
and  finished  in  1785." 

It  is  to  be  regretted,  that  Mr.  Pinkerton  did  not  inform  us  of  the  number  of  locks,  &c. 
and  the  cost  of  them. 

HERCULES. 


No.  IV. 

ITS  PROBABLE  SIZE  CONTINUED. 

Mr.  Pinkerton  says,  "  The  English  canals  are  generally  from  3  to  5  feet  deep,  and  from 
20  to  40  wide,  and  the  lock-gates  from  10  to  12.  But  they  answer  the  purpose  of  land-car- 
riage, their  only  design." 

Again — "  The  Duke  of  Bridgewater  is  justly  venerated  as  the  founder  of  inland  naviga- 
tion [in  England.]  He  was  seconded  by  Brindley,  than  whom  a  greater  natural  genius  in 
mechanics  never  existed. 

"  Their  first  canal  extends  from  Worsley's  mills,  by  a  circuitous  route,  9  miles,  to  Man- 
chester. This  beautiful  canal  is  thrown  over  the  river  Irwell  by  an  orch  of  39  feet  in  height, 
under  which  barges  pass  without  lowering  their  masts.  Yet  the  expense  of  this  noble  canal, 
in  the  then  comparatively  cheap  state  of  labour  and  provisions,  was  only  computed  at  1000 
guineas  per  mile  [equal  to  4750  dollars.]  The  various  machines  and  inventions  of  Brind- 
ley, for  its  construction  and  preservation,  deservedly  excite  wonder ;  but  a  detail  cannot  be 
given  here. 

"  The  grand  design  of  Brindley  was  to  join  the  four  great  ports  of  England,  viz.  Bristol, 


APPENDIX. 


:U7 


London,  Liverpool,  and  Hull,  by  inland  navigation.  The  two  latter  are  joined  by  a  canal 
from  the  river  Trent,  and  proceeding  north  to  the  Mersey.  This  is  styled  the  Grand  Trunk. 
It  was  begun  in  17GG  and  finished  in  1777.  Its  length  is  99  miles.  It  was  attended  with 
great  difficulties,  particularly  in  passing  the  river  Dove  in  Derbyshire,  where  there  is  an 
aqueduct  of  23  arches.  The  tunnel  through  the  hill  of  Hare-castle  in  Staffordshire,  is  in 
length  2880  yards  [524  rods]  and  is  more  than  70  yards  [210  feet]  below  the  surface  of  the 
ground,  and  was  executed  with  great  labour  and  expense." 

The  same  author,  in  noticing  the  canal  from  Dublin  to  the  river  Shannon,  and  that  it  failed 
through  want  of  able  engineers,  closes  his  remarks  with  the  following.  "  But  in  the  first 
place,  the  avaricious  and  jobbing  spirit  of  the  persons  employed — and  latterly,  the  distracted 
state  of  the  country,  have  hitherto  impeded  these  noble  intentions." 

Also,  in  speaking  of  the  canal  of  Arragon  in  Spain,  he  says,  "  One  of  these  branches  is 
conducted  over  the  valley  of  Riojalon  by  an  aqueduct  bridge  of  710  fathoms  [258  rods]  in 
length,  and  but  only  17  feet  thick  at  the  base." 

The  American  Encyclopedia  informs,  that  "  In  the  Dutch,  Austrian,  and  French  Nether- 
lands, there  is  a  very  great  number  of  canals ;  that  from  Bruges  to  Ostend  carries  vessels 
of  200  tons." 

The  Chinese  have  also  a  great  number  of  canals ;  that  which  runs  from  Canton  to  Pckin 
extends  about  825  miles  in  length,  and  was  executed  about  800  years  ago." 

I  have  enlarged  my  extracts  with  an  intention  of  their  serving  as  articles  of  information, 
without  the  expectation  of  having  reference  to  many  of  them  hereafter. 

Having  finished  them,  I  find  more  remarks  to  offer  under  this  head  than  I  at  first  contem- 
plated. I  shall  offer  the  importance  of  the  subject,  in  apology  to  the  reader,  for  my  prolixity, 
digressions,  and  defect  of  language,  which  he  may  feel  disposed  to  censure. 

As  American  articles  of  commerce  are  principally  its  agricultural  products,  their  bulk  and 
weight  impose  large  charges  on  their  transportation  to  market.  These  charges  are  aug- 
mented by  the  scarcity  of  hands  and  the  high  price  of  manual  and  animal  labour  in  this 
country. 

In  England  many  of  her  rivers  (which  compared  with  ours,  are  but  farm-brooks  and  mill- 
streams)  have  been  canalled  and  with  advantage,  because  the  price  of  manual  labour  is 
lower  than  that  of  beasts  of  draft  and  burden,  when  compared  in  their  proportions  with 
those  of  this  country.  Our  streams  are  more  than  proportionably  larger  to  our  excess  of 
bulk  and  wages.  Our  produce,  forming  the  larger  freight,  can,  in  its  course  to  market, 
mostly  glide  with  the  current,  while  the  up-freight,  consisting  of  manufactured  articles,  is 
proportionably  lighter. 

The  important  object  of  canals  is  to  substitute  animal  labour  in  the  transport  of  produce 
with  water  machines,  and  to  bestow  the  saved  labour  in  transport  on  the  cultivation  of  the 
soil,  where  these  machines  cannot  be  made  to  apply.    For  us  to  derive  the  greatest  advan- 

38 


318 


APPENDIX. 


tage  from  them,  it  is  necessary  they  should  be  calculated  on  a  large  scale,  sufficient  to  enter 
immediately  into  a  competition,  and  shortly  lead  to  an  entire  exclusion  of  land  transport 
within  their  range.  In  a  word,  it  should  answer  the  same  purpose  the  Hudson  River  does 
its  adjacent  territory,  where  no  produce  is  carried  to  New- York  market  by  land  north  of 
Kingsbridge. 

The  experiments  on  canals,  hitherto  made  in  the  United  States,  are  on  the  small  scale. 
They  are  but  little  more  than  auxiliaries  to  our  land  carriage.  The  navigation  of  the  Mo- 
hawk and  Seneca  rivers,  is  strictly  so.  They  merely  serve  the  purpose  of  facilitating  the 
surplus  produce  of  the  country  to  market,  which,  for  the  want  of  a  sufficient  number  of 
draft-teams,  would  be  materially  retarded.  The  charges  on  land  or  water  transport  are  about 
the  same.  The  size  of  boats  in  use  on  these  rivers  are  mostly  five  or  ten  tons.  Owing  to 
the  small  size  of  the  Herkimer  Canal,  and  the  locks  at  Little  Falls,  the  latter  size  is  the 
largest  which  can  be  admitted  :  and  in  consequence  of  the  light  streams  of  Wood  Creek 
and  the  upper  part  of  the  Mohawk,  witli  the  numerous  rifts  and  false  channels  around  the 
islands  in  the  lower  part  of  the  latter,  the  smaller  sized  boats  are  navigated  with  difficulty 
during  the  two  or  three  months  of  summer  drought. 

It  certainly  must  be  acknowledged  that  the  inhabitants  within  the  vicinity  of  the  western 
part  of  this  navigation,  have  exercised  a  degree  of  patience  toward  the  Western  Inland 
Lock  Navigation  Company,  in  their  neglect  of  clearing  the  channel  of  the  Mohawk  from 
its  minor  obstructions,  by  which,  it  is  problematical,  they  have  exposed  their  charter  to  a 
forfeiture.  I  am  not  alone  in  the  opinion,  that  for  little  more  than  1000  dollars  material 
improvements  might  be  made  in  that  river,  by  a  well-constructed  float,  with  a  windlass  and 
grappling  irons,  by  which  many  of  the  large  stones  in  the  rifts  might  be  removed,  and  the 
false  channels  dammed  two  or  three  feet  high,  so  as  to  turn  all  their  waters,  when  low,  into 
the  main  channel. 

In  the  account  of  the  canal  of  Clyde  we  have  its  particular  dimensions  with  that  of  the 
boat.  In  that  of  Kiel,  its  dimensions  with  the  burthen  of  the  boat.  In  that  of  Languedoc, 
its  dimensions  only,  those  of  the  boat  being  left  to  our  inference.  That  of  the  Clyde  has 
about  the  same  draft  of  water  which  the  Hudson  River  has  on  the  bars  a  few  miles  below 
Albany.    These  canals  are  of  those  sizes  adapted  to  the  purposes  of  great  utility. 

The  dimensions  which  I  conceive  best  to  adopt  for  the  Genesee  Canal  is  the  commodious 
width  of  the  Languedoc,  about  100  feet,  and  10  feet  in  depth.  I  cannot  perceive  any  ob- 
stacle to  these  dimensions,  but  that  of  accommodating  the  Mohawk  to  its  depth ;  and  I  am 
far  from  conceiving  that  impracticable.  To  clear  its  channel  from  sunken  timber — its  rifts 
of  their  rocks — sinking  the  bed  of  the  river  at  the  small  rifts,  and  in  some  cases  to  throw 
their  falls  into  the  larger  ones — at  a  few  of  the  larger  rifts  erect  shallow  locks — erect  dams 
in  an  oblique  direction  across  the  false  channels — erect  wing  dams  at  the  head  of  the  broad 
and  shallow  parts  of  the  river — rebuild  the  locks  and  canals  on  a  larger  scale.  To  these  and 


APPENDIX. 


319 


such  other  improvements  as  science  and  experience  shall  advise,  add  the  waters  of  the  Ge- 
nesee Canal,  and  I  presume  it  would  not  fall  far  short  of  10  feet  draft  of  water. 

A  material  argument  for  giving  the  canal  a  good  width,  is  its  furnishing  the  Mohawk  with 
the  complementary  waters  of  its  own  draft. 

How  far  steam-boats  can  be  adapted  to  practice  in  canals,  so  as  to  supersede  the  use  of 
towing-paths  and  their  draft  cattle,  time  and  experiment  have  yet  to  determine. 

In  my  next  I  shall  speak  of  the  expense  of  the  proposed  canal,  with  some  remarks  on 
its  utility. 

HERCULES. 


No.  V. 

PROBABLE  COST. 

The  expenses  of  the  canal  of  Languedoc,  averaged  on  its  whole  distance,  were  13,889 
dollars  per  mile;  those  of  Clyde,  25,714  dollars,  nearly  double.  The  locks  of  the  former 
are  more  than  one  to  every  two  miles :  those  of  the  latter,  more  than  one  to  every  mile  ; 
nearer  double  than  the  sum  of  their  expenses.  The  surface  of  the  reservoirs  to  the  latter 
is  over  the  proportion  of  distance  to  the  former  ;  so  are  the  aqueduct  bridges  and  bankings 
also.  But  the  width  of  the  canal  of  Clyde  is  only  fifty-six  feet,  probably  only  half  the  width 
of  that  of  Languedoc,  but  it  is  one-third  deeper.  It  is  probable  the  same  labour  in  the  for- 
mer cost  three  to  two  of  the  latter.  The  latter  was  completed  more  than  a  century  before 
the  former.  As  the  price  of  labour  gradually  rises  with  the  multiplication  of  property,  this 
will  account  for  the  difference.  The  price  of  labour  in  the  United  States  is  still  more  dis- 
proportioned. 

We  have  the  expense  of  the  fourth  mile  of  the  canal  of  Clyde,  which  includes  ten  locks, 
and  a  fine  aqueduct  bridge,  given  separate,  80,000  dollars.  From  these  data  we  may  pre- 
sume the  thirty-nine  locks  with  four  miles  of  the  canal,  cost  about  one-third  the  whole  sum. 
These,  with  the  reservoirs  and  the  bankings  through  mossy  ground,  &c.  probably  one  half. 
This  would  leave  its  cost,  when  made  through  good  and  level  ground,  at  about  1  1,500  dol- 
lars per  mile.  This  calculation  makes  locks  enormously  expensive ;  probably  three  locks 
would  cost  more  than  one  half  of  canal  in  good  ground. 

Of  the  canal  of  Languedoc — it  would  be  but  a  rude  conjecture,  in  me,  to  say  what  dis- 
tance of  the  canal,  in  good  ground,  the  labour  which  was  bestowed  on  its  reservoir  of  595 
acres  would  make.  However,  to  favour  my  calculation,  I  will  presume  on  the  probability 
that  the  extra  labour  which  that  canal  required,  in  its  reservoirs,  tunnels,  &c.  more  than  it  is 
probable  the  proposed  one  will,  is  equal  to  twenty  miles,  which  added  to  one  hundred  and 
eighty,  makes  it  equal  to  two  hundred  miles  or  the  supposed  length  of  the  latter.  This  will 
leave  their  difference  only  in  their  respective  number  of  locks.    Through  my  ignorance  in 


320 


APPENDIX. 


the  art  of  canalling  (that  which  has  involved  me  in  so  many  probabilities)  I  am  wholly  un- 
able to  make  a  calculation  on  the  number  of  locks  which  the  Genesee  Canal  may  require  ; 
but  to  further  the  argument  I  will  presume  26.*  This  gives  a  difference  of  four  to  one,  or 
78  locks  for  their  whole  difference. 

If  wc  can  presume  on  the  excess  of  expense  in  locks,  reservoirs,  and  bankings  in  the 
canal  of  Clyde,  over  the  one  proposed,  together  with  American  ingenuity  in  the  invention 
and  use  of  labour-saving  machines,  for  making  an  equivalent  to  tbe  excess  in  the  price  of 
labour  in  the  United  States,  we  may  venture  to  lay  its  price  at  the  same  rate — or,  which  is 
nearly  the  same,  to  double  the  price  of  that  of  Languedoc,  and  allow  its  distance  at  200 
miles,  we  shall  find  it  to  cost  something  more  than  five  millons;  to  put  it  in  round  numbers, 
say  6,000,000  dollars.  This  will  average  30,000  dollars  per  mile;  or  93  dollars  75  cents 
per  rod. 

Were  the  executive  of  our  government  to  instruct  its  foreign  ministers  and  agents  to  col- 
lect every  information  from  authors,  engineers,  and  plans  of  foreign  canals,  which  the  old 
world  affords,  we  could  doubtless  profit  largely  at  their  expense  in  our  infant  under- 
takings. 

COMMERCIAL  UTILITY. 

Its  advantages  are  too  obvious  to  admit  of  a  question.  Of  these,  I  shall  only  particula- 
rise two  or  tbree  articles  and  glance  at  a  few  others. 

In  its  tendency  to  improve  and  foster  our  natural  resources,  the  effect  which  it  would 
have  on  the  article  of  pot-ash  alone,  would,  in  time,  be  sufficient  to  pay  more  than  the 
expenses  of  the  canal.  I  presume  the  following  calculation  will  demonstrate  the  propo- 
sition. 

At  present,  pot-ash  is  made  as  far  inland  as  Batavia.  The  heavy  charges  on  land  trans- 
port would  prevent  it  from  ever  extending  as  much  further  as  to  Niagara,  consequently  the 
waste  timber  of  all  our  forests  to  the  west  of  that,  must  be  lost  to  the  commerce  of  tbe  United 
States.  The  effects  of  the  canal  in  encouraging  the  manufactory  of  pot-ash,  may  be  cal- 
culated to  commence  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Erie.  The  American  shores  of  that  lake  are 
about  300  miles ;  the  shore  of  the  straits  of  Detroit  through  Lake  St.  Clair  to  Lake  Huron 
probably  80  miles  ;  Lake  Huron's  shore,  say  320  miles ;  the  whole  circumference  of  Lake 
Michigan,  about  600  ;  total,  thirteen  hundred  miles,  without  taking  Lake  Superior  into 
account. 

Allow  this  range  fifty  miles  width  for  the  greatest  distance  of  land  carriage  to  the  several 
landings  on  these  shores.  This  gives  65,000  square  miles,  or  41,600,000  acres  in  this 
tract. 


*  This  estimate  is  predicated  on  the  plan  of  an  inclined  plane. 


APPENDIX. 


321 


One  acre  well  timbered  with  hard  wood  will  afford  fifty  bushels  of  ashes — from  six  to 
seven  hundred  bushels  field  ashes,  make  a  ton  of  pot-ash,  or  fourteen  acres — but  allowing 
reserves  for  woodland,  waste  and  neglect  in  collecting  and  saving  ashes,  &c.  say  that  only 
one  ton  to  every  fifty  acres  shall  be  brought  to  market,  this  would  give  032,000  tons. 

Pot-ash  can  be  manufactured,  taken  from  the  works  to  the  country  merchants,  twenty  or 
thirty  miles,  and  afforded  at  100  dollars  per  ton.  The  charges  of  transport  from  this  village 
to  New-York  are  about  thirty-five  dollars.  To  aid  my  calculation,  I  will  presume  on  this 
for  the  average  price  of  freight  from  the  lakes  through  the  canal.  Its  present  price  in 
New-York  is  220  dollars  per  ton.  Its  average  price  in  that  market  for  ten  years  past  is  full 
150  dollars.  This  will  give  the  manufacturer  and  country  merchant  fifteen  dollars  profit. — 
Allow  the  shipping  merchant  for  his  profits  ten  dollars,  making  twenty-five  dollars  per  ton 
for  the  sum  of  nett  profits  to  American  citizens.  I  consider  this  calculation  to  be  within 
fact  averaged  on  the  whole  quantity  of  pot-ash  for  the  term  past.  We  may  at  least  rely  on 
it  for  the  future,  when  we  consider  the  improvements  yet  to  be  made  in  the  manufactory 
of  that  article,  of  which  it  is  susceptible,  and  for  which  we  already  have  a  certainty  in  Alex. 
M'Nitt's  patent  therefor.  So  far  as  his  patent  has  been  essayed,  it  has  rendered  pot-ash 
standard  first  sort.  With  the  improvement  of  its  quality  we  may  calculate  on  the  enhance- 
ment of  its  price.  Taking  for  granted  the  twenty-five  dollars  on  832,000  tons,  gives 
20,800,000  dollars  for  the  amount  of  nett  profits,  a  sum  which  perhaps  cannot  otherwise 
be  realized  by  the  citizens  of  the  United  States.  To  this  sum  add  the  advance  value  on 
this  article  along  the  shores  of  the  canal,  and  it  will  make  an  amount  equal  to  four  times 
the  conjectured  cost  of  it. 

Another  consideration  offers  to  view — to  the  New- York  price  of  150  dollars,  add  Ameri- 
can freightage  to  Europe,  and  call  the  price  200  dollars  per  ton.  The  gross  amount  of 
832,000  tons  would  be  166,400,000  dollars  in  exports  answering  our  merchants  for  their  re- 
mittances equal  to  cash. 

These  calculations  also  serve  to  give  us  some  ideas  of  the  resources  of  capital  we  have  in 
our  forests. 

It  is  singular  that  this  valuable  article  of  commerce  is  not  made  in  any  considerable  quan- 
tity to  the  south  of  this  state.  From  the  Philadelphia  price  current,  I  presume  their  mer- 
chants give  it  no  encouragement.  It  might  be  attended  with  advantage  in  the  other  middle 
states,  and  particularly  in  the  western.  It  could  be  transported  from  Pittsburgh  to  New- 
Orleans  for  twenty  dollars  per  ton.  By  its  serving  as  ballast  freight  to  cotton,  it  could  be 
exported  from  thence  for  nearly  the  same  charges  as  from  the  Atlantic  ports. 

HERCULES. 


322 


APPENDIX. 


No.  VI. 

Another  article  in  which  the  canal  would  eventually  nett  its  expenses  to  the  inhabitants 
of  the  western  country,  is  by  facilitating  the  transport  of  salt.  At  present,  all  the  country 
to  the  west  of  Onondaga,  through  the  whole  route  of  the  lakes,  the  western  part  of  Penn- 
sylvania down  to  Pittsburgh,  and  one  hundred  miles  below,  on  the  Ohio  River,  mostly  depend 
upon  the  salt  springs  on  the  Seneca  River  for  their  supply :  also  the  country  eastward  to  and 
beyond  Utica. 

A  few  minor  springs  have  been  found  in  this  and  the  Genesee  counties,  and  doubtless 
others  will  be  discovered  in  different  places  sufficient  to  supply  their  adjacent  settlements  ; 
but  the  probability  is,  that  the  westward  country  will  ever  have  chiefly  to  depend  on  the 
Onondaga  springs,  and  their  fountain  is  competent  to  it. 

The  present  route  of  transport  from  Onondaga  is  down  Oswego  River,  along  Lake  Onta- 
rio, and  up  Niagara  River  to  "Rlack  Rock  or  Buffalo.  Tn  this  route  it  has  to  encounter  the 
portages  of  Oswego  and  Niagara  Falls,  beside  the  sometimes  tardy  and  dangerous  naviga- 
tion of  the  lake. 

I  am  not  informed  what  the  present  charges  of  freight  and  portage  from  Onondaga  to 
Buffalo  are,  but  it  is  probable  that  the  charges  by  the  canal  would  not  exceed  two-thirds  of 
the  present.  Another  valuable  saving  in  its  expense  could  be  made  in  its  package  casks — 
by  the  canal  it  could  be  transported  from  the  works  to  the  most  distant  landings  on  the  lakes, 
in  bulk;  whereas,  owing  to  the  different  changes  which  it  has  to  undergo  in  its  land 
and  water  vehicles,  it  has  necessarily  to  be  put  up  in  barrels  which  cost  50  a  60  cents  each. 

Salt  can  be  purchased  at  the  works  for  twenty  cents  per  bushel — allow  half  cent  the 
pound  freight,  from  thence  to  Albany,  it  could  be  afforded  in  that  market  at  48  cents  per 
bushel — under  the  late  duties  this  would  be  able  to  enter  into  a  competition  with  imported 
salt,  on  the  banks  of  our  tide  waters. 

I  am  informed,  and  with  pleasure  announce,  that  the  Galen  works  manufacture  a  quality 
as  fine  for  table  use  as  the  best  of  Liverpool  basket  salt. 

Another  advantage  which  the  canal  would  dispense  to,the  country,  is  that  of  rendering 
the  cluster  of  lakes  which  would  lie  to  the  south  of  it,  in  the  Genesee  and  Military  tracts, 
navigable,  by  canalling  their  outlets  into  itself — also  the  Genesee  River — and  a  connexion 
with  Lake  Ontario  by  tapping  the  canal  opposite  and  into  Oneida  Lake  ;  thence  down  Os- 
wego River.  The  effects  which  these  combined  would  have  on  enhancing  the  value  of 
many  millions  of  acres  of  land  adjacent  to  their  navigation,  would  ultimately  be  in  amount 
perhaps  in  a  decimal  proportion  to  their  first  cost.  With  very  few  exceptions  the  soil  of  the 
surrounding  country  is  even  of  a  superior  quality,  and  when  put  under  good  cultivation, 
would  be  able  to  make  prompt  remittances  for  its  imported  merchandise. 

It  would  command  the  trade  of  Upper  Canada. — If  the  late  publication  of  the  unratified 


APPENDIX.  323 

British  treaty  be  correct,  we  have  sufficient  testimony  of  the  estimation  which  its  govern- 
ment would  hold  it  in.  The  publication  states  the  purport  of  the  first  of  the  two  additional 
notes  was  to  "  keep  open  for  future  discussion  a  claim  of  Britain  not  to  pay  more  on  goods 
sent  from  Canada  or  New-Brunswick  into  the  territories  of  the  United  States  than  is  paid 
on  the  importation  of  such  goods  in  American  ships."  England  appears  desirous  to  give  its 
Canadian  subjects  a  liberal  trade  through  our  territories.  The  revenue  of  this  trade  would 
pay  much  of  the  annual  repairs  of  the  canal. 

Mail  and  passage  boats  would  be  devised  for  expedition.  The  spring  and  autumnal  tra- 
vellers on  our  turnpike  would  gladly  improve  the  opportunity. 

It  would  greatly  facilitate  emigration  to  the  western  new  lands. 

Its  not  being  affected  by  summer  droughts — only  by  frosts — nor  that  scarcely  beyond  the 
period  usual  at  Albany,  would  give  it  the  term  of  eight  or  nine  months  of  the  best  seasons 
in  the  year,  with  the  longest  days  for  doing  business. 

Its  bankings  would  afford  excellent  and  permanent  mill-seats,  whose  value  would  be  en- 
hanced by  the  scarcity  of  natural  ones  in  the  country.  Those  we  have  are  mostly  tempo- 
rary, except  on  the  outlet  of  our  small  lakes.  Their  rents  would  afford  a  revenue  towards 
its  repairs  and  attendance  on  its  locks. 

The  trade  of  almost  all  the  lakes  in  North  America,  the  most  of  which  flowing  through 
the  canal,  would  centre  at  New- York  for  their  common  mart.  This  port,  already  of  the  first 
commercial  consequence  in  the  United  States,  would  shortly  after,  be  left  without  a  compe- 
tition in  trade,  except  by  that  of  New-Orleans.  In  a  century  its  island  would  be  covered 
with  the  buildings  and  population  of  its  city. 

Albany  would  be  necessitated  to  cut  down  her  hills  and  fill  her  valleys  in  order  to  give 
spread  to  her  population. 

The  harbour  of  Buffalo  would  exchange  her  forest  trees  for  a  thicket  of  marine  spars. 

Utica,  if  the  point  of  junction,  would  become  a  distinguished  inland  town. 

Schenectady,  by  her  portage,  would  have  the  drudge  of  business.  I  have  made  no  calcu- 
lation for  extending  the  navigation  of  the  Mohawk  beyond  this  place.  Her  citizens  will 
endeavour  to  retain  the  portage  to  an  extremity.  When  the  western  trade  becomes  exten- 
sive, and  the  price  of  freight  down  the  Mohawk,  through  the  necessary  locks  into  the  Hud- 
son at  Troy  and  Albany,  can  be  produced  below  the  possible  price  of  portage,  the  necessary 
improvements  will  then  be  effected. 

Such  is  the  interest  which  the  inhabitants  of  those  places  would  have  in  the  canal,  that 
they  cannot  long  slumber  over  the  project.  To  sum  up  the  whole  in  a  sentence,  if  the  pro- 
ject be  but  a  feasible  one,  no  situation  on  the  globe  offers  such  extensive  and  numerous  ad- 
vantages to  inland  navigation  by  a  canal,  as  this  ! 

In  my  next,  I  shall  inquire  into  the  resources  of  capital  for  the  undertaking. 

HERCULES. 


324 


APPENDIX. 


No.  VII. 

RESOURCES  OF  CAPITAL. 

The  probable  sources  are,  the  individual  capital  of  our  citizens, — that  of  foreigners, — 
and  our  national  treasury. 

There  are  objections  which  lie  against  the  two  first.  To  the  former  of  these,  the  mag- 
nitude of  the  undertaking  is  beyond  the  reach  of  their  individual  capital.  This  yet  remains 
inadequate  to  the  full  improvement  of  our  natural  resources;  consequently  wholly  incompe- 
tent to  any  capital  undertakings  of  internal  improvements,  and  probably  will  remain  so  for 
a  century  to  come.  Such  an  attempt  at  the  canal  would,  for  the  want  of  effective  capital, 
like  many  of  those  which  have  been  undertaken  in  this  country,  have  either  to  labour  under 
a  tardy  execution,  or  obtain  relief  .from  the  disgraceful  aid  of  lotteries. 

The  calling  foreign  capitalists  in  to  our  aid  is  still  more  exceptionable.  The  object  of 
investing  their  capital  in  our  stock  would  be  the  double  consideration  of  its  permanency,  and 
its  premium  at  a  per  centagc  above  what  they  could  obtain  for  it  in  their  own  market ;  and, 
consequently,  the  immense  trade  of  the  canal  would  for  ever  be  rendered  tributary  to  foreign 
capitalists  by  an  unextinguishable  toll.  America  has  already  a  large  amount  of  foreign 
capital  vested  in,  and  drawing  a  revenue  from,  her  stock  and  her  new  lands,  for  which  she 
has  not  an  adequate  reciprocity  of  interest ;  and,  unless  our  government  holds  in  reserve  the 
idea  of  the  sequestration  of  foreign  property,  deposited  in  our  country  as  the  dernier  resort, 
for  the  redress  of  foreign  spoliations  on  our  commerce,  there  can  scarce  be  a  palliative 
argument  offered  for  its  liberal  toleration  to  foreigners,  expressly  foreign  residents,  who  by 
their  superior  wealth  are  drawing  large  sums  of  profits  from  our  best  resources. 

Beside  the  toll,  there  is  another  objection  common  to  both  these  sources  of  capital :  it  is 
that  prejudicial  propensity  to  which  incorporate  bodies  are  subject,  in  their  divergings  from 
the  common  interest,  and  their  tendency  to  monopolies. 

Our  government  is  constituted  by  a  certain  sum  of  power  granted  by  each  of  its  members 
in  exchange  for  a  certain  sum  of  equal  rights. 

Incorporations  and  charter-parties  are  constituted  by  granting  a  fractional  sum  of  these 
equal  rights  and  endowing  a  few  select  members — generally  the  most  wealthy,  consequently 
the  most  influential — as  their  exclusive  rights. 

This  sum  of  delegated  power  subtracts  so  much  from  that  of  the  social  compact;  and 
these  exclusive  rights  diminish,  to  their  amount,  the  sum  of  equal  rights. 

The  government  which  grants  charter-parties,  cedes  so  much  of  its  own  jurisdiction — 
creates  and  erects  so  many  little  demi-sovcreigns  within  itself.  This  it  does  at  its  own  ex- 
pense ;  for  the  sum  of  power  in  governments  is  like  the  sum  of  money  at  the  gambler's  table, 
where  nothing  is  added  or  multiplied.  The  gains  of  one  are  but  the  losses  of  another.  The 
joint  interests  of  incorporate  bodies,  like  partnership,  produce  a  concert  of  measures.  Being 


APPENDIX. 


derived  from  government  by  an  emanation  of  political  power,  they  are  very  subject  to  re-act 
on  the  parent  of  its  existence.  Its  effects  are  often  pernicious.  Fifty  men  associated  for  a 
common  purpose,  can  out  machinate  five  hundred  unassociated  ;  and  one  bank  association 
may  buy  or  bribe  two-thirds  of  the  representation  of  the  whole  state.  They  must,  indeed, 
pay  for  it,  but  others  must  pay  them  in  turn  ;  and  like  the  special  immunities,  the  whole 
must  come  out  of  the  people. 

Let  the  government  be  liberal  with  its  grants  of  incorporations,  and  it  would  eventually 
transfer  its  vital  powers  to,  and  its  energies  become  absorbed  in,  these  principalities.  Thence 
our  government  would  gently  slide  into  an  aristocracy.  The  one  is  the  foster-parent  to 
the  other. 

But  another  evil,  more  serious  if  possible,  may  be  apprehended.  Presume  that  our  country 
abounded  with  a  large  amount  of  charter  stock ;  although  it  was  originally  granted  to  na- 
tive citizens,  yet  it  was  made  transferable. 

Should  British  agents  and  capitalists  purchase  up  the  major  part  of  it,  our  government 
would  become  completely  manacled  with  foreign  control.  This  is  the  most  vulnerable  point 
of  our  government  to  British  influence — their  gold. 

I  have  said  more  on  the  subject  of  incorporations  than  I  at  first  contemplated  ;  but  I  con- 
ceived the  aptitude  of  the  subject  to  the  times  rendered  it  somewhat  pertinent  to  the  main 
subject.  I  will  here  remark,  in  justification  of  our  republican  governments,  that  they  com- 
menced with  extensive  natural  resources  and  advantages — with  few  hands,  and  a  scanty 
capital.  Incorporations  become  a  necessary  evil  to  aid  the  improvements  of  our  infant 
country.  Although  their  injurious,  as  well  as  beneficial,  effects  are  obvious,  yet,  for  the 
want  of  a  sufficient  amount  of  their  stock,  we  may,  for  the  present,  allay  our  apprehensions 
of  those  direful  evils.  However,  it  would  be  but  judicious  and  prudent  in  our  government 
to  limit  the  duration  of  their  grants  of  charters,  and  privilege  none  but  citizens  to  vote  for, 
and  to  hold  offices  under,  them, 

HERCULES. 


No.  VIII. 

RESOURCES  OF  CAPITAL  CONTINUED. 

In  stating  the  objections  to  the  first  two  resources  of  capital, — its  tax  of  tollage, — I  have 
necessarily  been  led  to  consider  their  collateral  consequences  also — the  biassed  and  perhaps 
baneful  influence  which  incorporate  companies  may  and  often  have  on  government. 

With  these  weighty  objections  to  the  resources  of  individual  capital,  we  therefore  can 
alone,  with  confidence,  turn  our  attention  and  our  best  hopes  to  a  patriotic  government,  with 
a  productive  revenue,  as  the  source  of  capital  competent  to  the  completion  of  our  numerous 

39 


326 


APPENDIX. 


internal  improvements.  The  ample  funds  of  its  treasury  would  prevent  the  failure  of  the 
design — mutilated  plans  being  substituted  for  grand  projects,  or  even  a  tardy  pursuit  and 
prosecution  of  the  work. 

This  would  leave  the  private  capital  of  our  citizens  to  pursue  and  follow  up  the  improve- 
ments of  our  natural  resources  in  the  wide  field  of  business  which  they  would  open.  By 
the  extension  of  improvements  and  trade,  the  government  would  derive  a  premium  on  its 
expenditures,  through  its  custom-house  revenue,  without,  and  which  would  far  exceed,  tolls 
and  lockage.  In  this  respect,  the  government  would  possess  an  advantage  which  could  not 
be  attached  to  capital  derived  from  any  other  source ;  nor  could  it  be  deprived  of  it,  were 
they  executed  by  any  other  capital. 

The  government,  thus  acting  as  a  national  incorporation,  would  supersede  the  use  and 
necessity  of  separate  and  selfish  associations  for  these  purposes;  and  furnish  them  to  the 
country  free  of  tollage.  This  alleviation  of  the  tax  on  its  capital  to  our  citizens,  would 
operate  with  mutual  reciprocity  between  them  and  the  government. 

But  there  are  political  considerations,  the  consequences  of  which  cannot  be  estimated  by 
the  rule  of  pence.  Our  considerate  government  is  so  ably  devised  and  constituted  as  to 
embrace,  with  equal  facility  and  effect,  ten  times  the  number  of  states  that  now  belong  to  it. 

The  maxims  of  politicians  are,  that  rivers  unite,  mountains  divide,  governments.  In  our 
essay  on  a  republican  government,  we  have  undertaken  to  encounter  the  latter  dogma,  by 
embracing  the  celebrated  Alleghany  mountains,  and  their  western  country,  within  our  ter- 
ritory. 

The  political  advantages  of  opening  water  communications  around  and  across  the  inter- 
vening mountains,  between  the  great  eastern  and  western  sections  of  the  American  empire, 
are,  by  expediting  and  familiarising  the  intercourse,  and  by  establishing  commercial  and 
social  connexions  between  their  respective  inhabitants,  to  cultivate  genial  harmony,  and  to 
assimilate  their  manners  in  the  infancy  of  our  country,  which,  growing  with  our  maturity, 
would  bind  them  in  their  affections  to  the  common  government,  and  secure  it  from  a 
dismemberment. 

The  convention  which  formed  our  constitution,  not  anticipating  the  subject,  omitted  to 
provide  it  with  an  article  for  the  purpose  of  applying  the  surplus  revenue  to  internal  im- 
provements. However,  its  utility  is  too  obvious  for  the  proposition  of  an  amendment  for 
the  purpose  to  meet  with  an  obstacle ;  and  the  interest  which  this  state  has  in  the  event,  is 
of  sufficient  inducement  for  its  legislature  to  be  the  first  to  propound  it.  The  amendment 
ought  to  endow  the  national  government  with  the  uncontrollable  right  to  enter,  range 
through,  and  leave  the  territory  of  any  individual  state  at  discretion.  This  would  avoid  the 
impediments  of  local  prejudices  and  selfish  jealousies — leaving  old  places  to  flourish  or  de- 
cline, and  new  ones  to  arise,  as  natural  advantages  decided. 

In  the  appropriations,  it  is  probable  the  suspicions  of  partiality  might  arise  on  the  part  of 


APPENDIX. 


327 


some  states  against  the  proper  requisitions  of  others.  These  altercations  could  readily  be 
adjusted  by  the  fair  and  equitable  principle  of  a  dividend  of  the  surplus  money  in  the  trea- 
sury, in  proportion  to  the  sums  its  custom-house  produces  to  it,  until  their  most  important 
improvements  were  effected. 

The  payment  of  the  nineteen  millions  of  three  per  cent,  stock  could  be  deferred  with  advan- 
tage to  the  country,  for  the  earlier  commencement  of  these  improvements.  For  this  purpose 
I  have  a  sincere  wish  that  the  government  may  not  effect  the  proposed  negociations  with 
the  holders  of  the  deferred  stock. 

Having  finished  my  remarks  on  the  Genesee  Canal,  I  shall,  in  my  next,  suggest  some  pro- 
jects for  other  improvements  of  the  kind  in  different  parts  of  the  United  States. 

HERCULES. 


No.  IX. 

OTHER  IMPROVEMENTS  PROPOSED. 

In  the  course  of  my  remarks  on  this  subject,  I  shall  suggest  sundry  improvements  of  the 
present  beds  and  channels  of  rivers.  These  will  have  in  view,  in  general  terms,  the  clear- 
ing them  of  rocks  and  bars,  damming  up  false  channels  and  sinking  shoal  places  to  produce 
channels  of  an  even  bottom  and  uniform  depth  of  water — sinking  small  rifts,  and  locking 
the  large  ones  and  falls — and  straightening  the  course  of  rivers  by  cutting  points  across 
their  bends. 

As  the  propositions  have  in  view  the  following  of  the  established  course  of  waters,  their 
feasibility,  I  presume,  will  readily  obtain  the  assent  of  the  reader. 

I  also  contemplate  to  suggest  some  projects  for  tapping  rivers,  and  taking  part  of  their 
waters  from  their  natural  beds,  and  giving  anew  direction  to  their  channels.  In  doing  this, 
I  am  sensible  I  shall  assume  a  critical  position;  but,  "  in  America,  nature  seems  to  have 
carried  on  her  operations  upon  a  large  scale,  and  with  a  bolder  hand,  and  to  have  distin- 
guished the  features  of  this  couRtry  by  a  peculiar  magnificence;"  and  nature  invites  Ame- 
ricans to  project  their  plans  of  internal  improvements  on  her  magnificent  scale. 

The  experience  of  this  country  on  canals,  as  yet,  is  but  trifling;  and  that  which  it  pos- 
sesses, is  obtained  from  essays  made  on  a  small  scale.  By  striking  out  a  "  bolder"  line,  I 
shall  pursue  nature's  guide  in  an  untrodden  route.  Being  but  a  limited  traveller,  and  our 
geographies  and  gazetteers  affording  me  but  little  information  on  the  subject,  of  course  I  am 
left  to  draw  my  inferences  of  probabilities  chiefly  from  maps ;  consequently,  these  sugges- 
tions must  be  subjected  to  many  exceptions ;  particularly  those  of  natural  impediments  which 
remain  unascertained,  even  by  observation,  much  less  by  actual  survey.  It  is  by  surveys,  only. 


328 


APPENDIX. 


that  they  can  be  tested  ;  and  it  is  the  interest  of  men,  only,  which  will  invite  them  to  it.  Until 
then,  they  will  remain  but  as  the  crude  suggestions  of  projects. 

I  am  not  without  apprehensions  that,  from  the  novelty  of  the  projects,  they  may  be 
treated  as  chimeras ;  or,  at  least,  as  "  works  that  will  never  be  undertaken  in  your 
day  or  mine." 

Although  I  have  an  ardent  wish  to  live  and  see  many  of  them  effected,  yet,  by  accident,  I 
may  be  writing  for  a  subsequent  age  :  And  I  have  that  reliance  on  the  American  character, 
already  established  for  its  inventive  genius  and  enterprise,  which  gives  me  even  grateful 
expectations  that,  when  possessed  of  adequate  capital  and  invited  by  interest,  my  country- 
men are  capable  of  encountering  many  difficulties  and  apparent  impossibilities,  by  which 
many  improvements,  or  collaterals  to  the  proposed  ones,  will  be  undertaken  and  completed 
at  a  future  day. 

Having  thus  premised  the  subject,  with  diffidence  I  shall  pursue  it,  connected  with  the 
idea  which  I  suggested  of  a  dividend  of  the  surplus  money  of  the  United  States'  treasury 
among  the  individual  states,  and  purpose  to  notice  the  probable  improvements  which  they 
severally  offer. 

Owing  to  the  unevenness  of  ground  in  the  New-England  states,  they  offer  but  uncertain 
prospects  of  success  in  tapping  their  principal  rivers  and  traversing  the  country  with  canals. 

The  District  of  Maine  has  the  Penobscot,  Kennebec,  and  Amoriscogin,  of  considerable 
size,  which  will  admit  of  improvements  in  their  channels  and  locking  their  falls,  and  rendered 
serviceable  in  rafting  lumber  from  the  interior. 

New-Hampshire  has  no  considerable  streams  but  the  Merrimack  and  her  half  share  of 
Connecticut  River.  The  unevenness  of  the  country  will  probably  forbid  the  idea  of  tapping 
Connecticut  River  and  throwing  it  across  to  the  Merrimack ;  and  that,  again,  across  its 
bend  and  into  or  near  its  estuary.  Its  chief  use  of  inland  navigation  is  for  the  conveyance 
of  its  lumber.  Its  surplus  productions  are  mostly  provisions  which  can  be  transported  alive 
on  their  feet. 

Massachusetts  invites  to  a  more  capacious  and  finished  improvement  of  navigation  of 
Connecticut  River  above  and  through  her  territory.  If  the  ground  would  admit  of  taking 
a  draft  of  water  from  Connecticut  River,  above  Greenfield  falls,  and  running  it  in  a  circular 
route  across  the  country  (perhaps  through  Montague,  between  Sunderland  and  Petersham, 
near  Rutland  and  Worcester,  to  the  head  waters  of  the  Concord  and  to  Charles  River)  into 
Boston,  it  would  be  a  valuable  acquisition  to  the  trade  of  that  town.  It  would  require  a 
distance  of  120  or  130  miles.  The  Middlesex  canal  could  be  materially  improved  by  sinking 
its  bed  to  the  level  of  the  Merrimack,  and  by  giving  it  a  greater  width  also — or  by  sinking 
it  in  part  and  accommodating  the  remainder  of  its  present  elevation,  by  tapping  the  Merri- 
mack up  stream  a  sufficient  distance  to  command  the  draft  of  its  current.  From  Dr.  Morse's 
information  of  the  canal,  I  presume  an  improvement  of  the  kind  is  very  plausible.    The  Dr. 


APPENDIX. 


329 


speaks  of  cutting  a  canal  across  the  isthmus  between  the  heads  of  Barnstable  and  Buzzards 
Bay,  a  distance  of  six  or  eight  miles,  which,  if  it  could  be  accomplished,  (he  says  that  Dr. 
Dwight  gave  it  as  his  opinion,)  it "  would  be  more  advantageous  to  Massachusetts  and  the 
continent  than  any  other.'1 

If  the  learned  gentlemen  had  merely  boat-navigation  in  view,  I  shall  beg  the  liberty  to 
entertain  the  reverse  opinion.  Their  fancies  must  have  taken  the  lead  of  their  judgments ; 
for  I  know  of  no  place  where  the  connexion  of  two  equal  bodies  of  tide-waters  would  be  of 
less  utility.  However,  could  a  ship-channel  of  15  or  20  feet  depth  be  cut  through  and  admit 
of  the  ebb  and  flood  of  the  tides,  it  would  be  valuable  for  abridging  the  length  and  risk  of 
the  passage  of  the  sound  coasters  to  and  from  Boston.  This  consideration,  alone,  can  pos- 
sibly render  its  capital  of  more  value  than  two  or  three  per  cent. 

Rhode-Island  has  a  greater  proportion  of  navigable  waters  than  territory.  Its  only  pros- 
pect for  capital  improvements  in  inland  navigation  is  the  tapping  Connecticut  River  about 
Greenfield  falls — or  rather,  tapping  the  one  from  that  to  Boston,  near  and  throwing  it  into 
the  head-waters  of  the  Pawtucket — thence  follow  its  channel,  with  improvements,  to  Provi- 
dence. The  advantageous  navigation,  the  interior  and  safe  situation,  and  the  capital  in  trade 
at  Providence,  gives  it  a  valuable  consideration. 

Connecticut  has  but  two  considerable  rivers — that  of  its  name  and  Stratford.  The  im- 
provement of  the  first  would  be  valuable — that  of  the  second,  with  the  branches  of  the 
Thames,  would  doubtless  be  worth  the  expense. 

Vermont  is  wholly  an  inland  state,  and  for  ever  destined  to  remain  so,  with  its  productions 
tributary  to  the  commerce  of  her  neighbour  states,  unless  Chamblee  River  can  be  sufficiently 
improved  to  admit  vessels  from  the  St.  Lawrence  into  Lake  Champlain.  While  she  would 
have  no  dividend  from  custom-house  revenue,  she  offers  the  interest  of  her  trade  to  New- 
Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Rhode-Island,  and  Connecticut,  for  the  improvement  of  Con- 
necticut River,  on  the  east — and  to  New- York,  the  improvement  of  Lake  Champlain  (by  a 
connexion  with  the  Hudson)  and  several  considerable  rivers  which  fall  into  it,  on  the  west. 

HERCULES. 


No.  X. 

OTHER  IMPROVEMENTS  PROPOSED. 

New- York  is  destined  to  be  the  brightest  star  in  the  American  galaxy.  This  state  com- 
mands the  means  of  vast  improvements  and  extension  of  inland  navigation.  To  the 
natural  advantages  for  navigation  which  (the  most  beautiful  river  that  geography  records,) 
the  Hudson  affords,  may  be  added  further  improvements  to  those  already  made  at  the  head 
of  its  tide  waters  for  the  benefit  of  Albany,  Troy,  Lansinburgh,  and  Watcrford ;  and  these 


330 


APPENDIX. 


extended  up  the  river  to  Fort  Edward.  If  clearing  out  the  rocks  and  stones  in  the  bed  of 
the  river — sinking  the  channel  on  the  small  rifts — damming  and  locking  the  falls  at  Fort 
Miller,  Saratoga,  and  the  rift  at  Waterford  would  not  effect  the  necessary  improvements,  a 
capacious  canal  could  be  thrown  from  Fort  Edward  to  Waterford,  and  continued  almost  the 
whole  distance  on  the  west  bank  of  the  river ;  a  distance  of  forty  miles.  This  communica- 
tion could  be  continued  to  Lake  Champlain,by  cutting  a  canal  from  Fort  Edward  to  Skeens- 
borough,  or  the  head  of  South  Bay.  I  have  no  information  of  the  balance  of  waters  be- 
tween the  two  points,  except  what  is  drawn  by  inference  from  the  maps,  and  by  presumption. 
From  the  latter,  I  conceive  the  head  of  water  which  gives  current  to  Lake  Champlain  and 
Chamblee  River,  into  the  St.  Lawrence,  is  greater  than  from  Fort  Edward  to  tide  waters  in 
the  Hudson.  If  this  be  fact,  a  draft  could  be  obtained  from  the  lake  for  the  supply  of  the 
canal — but  when  looking  at  the  head  and  course  of  Wood  Creek,  there  is  a  probability  that 
the  Hudson,  at  Fort  Edward,  is  the  highest.  Admit  it,  then  the  supply  of  the  canal  must 
be  gained  from  the  Hudson  by  taking  it  out  at  the  head  of  Glen's  Falls,  or  by  tapping  (and 
if  the  surrounding  hills  require  it,  to  tunnel  also)  the  head  of  Lake  George,  which  could 
conveniently  be  thrown  on  the  highest  ground  between  the  two  points.  The  distance  would 
be  about  fifteen  or  twenty  miles.  These  would  open  an  important  communication  between 
Lake  Champlain  and  the  tide  waters  of  the  Hudson. 

The  several  branches  of  the  Susquehannah  and  the  Tioga  which  take  their  rise  in,  and 
traverse  a  part  of  the  state,  would  merit  a  consideration  also. 

In  turning  our  attention  to  the  westward,  an  immense  field  opens  to  view.  To  the  Gene- 
see canal  and  its  appendages  already  spoken  of— there  could  be  a  continuation  of  water 
communication  to  the  north-western  extremity  of  our  territory,  with  several  valuable  diver- 
gent branches.  From  Buffalo  (the  contemplated  head  of  the  Genesee  Canal)  the  naviga- 
tion to  the  straits  of  St.  Marie  is  already  complete.  These  straits  might  be  improved  by 
sinking  its  rapids,  or  by  damming  and  locking  them,  which  would  complete  the  navigation 
into  Lake  Superior. 

The  improvement  of  the  Fox  and  Ouisconsing  rivers,  with  a  canal  to  connect  them  at  or 
about  their  portage,  supplied  by  the  most  elevated  stream,  would  open  a  communication  be- 
tween Lake  Michigan  and  the  Mississippi  1 150  miles  from  its  mouth. 

Another  important  improvement  could  be  effected  by  tapping  Lake  Michigan  and  throw- 
ing a  canal  into  the  Plein  river,  the  west  branch  of  the  Illinois,  thence  down  that  river  into 
the  Mississippi  1 1 80  miles  from  its  mouth.  The  evenness  of  the  land  between  the  Plein  and 
Michigan,  gives  a  certainty  to  its  feasibility,  and  a  probability  of  its  being  completed  by  a 
canal  of  ten — at  furthest  twenty  miles.  With  the  necessary  improvements  in  the  river  be- 
low the  canal,  the  navigation  of  this  branch  could  be  made  of  equal  dimensions  with  the 
Genesee  Canal. 

To  render  the  route  of  transportation  from  Buffalo  to  the  Mississippi,  by  the  Illinois,  of 


APPENDIX. 


331 


its  greatest  value,  another  improvement  would  become  essential — a  cut  across  the  promon- 
tory between  Lakes  Erie  and  Michigan  at  their  heads.  Here,  indeed,  the  course  of  waters 
(the  rivers  taking  their  rise  near  Lake  Erie,  and  falling  into  Lake  Michigan)  appears  to  pre- 
clude the  idea — but  Michigan  disemboguing  its  waters  through  Huron  and  the  straits,  into 
Erie,  establishes  the  fact  that  the  former  lies  something  higher  than  the  latter,  and  the  pro- 
ject is  forbidden  only  by  the  unevenness  of  the  intermediate  ground,  of  which  I  have  not 
been  able  to  acquire  particular  information. 

As  the  importance  of  this  improvement  may  not  immediately  strike  the  perception  of  the 
reader,  I  will  make  a  brief  statement  of  it.  It  would  require  the  distance  of  130  or  190 
miles.  From  the  head  of  it,  across  the  lake  to  Chicago,  about  50  miles,  making  240  miles 
from  the  head  of  Lake  Erie.  This  would  make  the  distance  from  Buffalo  to  Chicago  540 
miles,  which  by  the  present  route  through  Lake  Huron,  &c.  is  1200,  with  a  difference  of  300 
miles  of  north  latitude. 

The  distance  from  New-York  by  this  route,  to  the  Mississippi,  would  be — to  Albany,  165 — 
to  Buffalo,  300 — to  Chicago,  540 — to  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois,  about  425 — to  the  mouth  of 
the  Missouri,  20  miles,  making  1450  miles  ;  of  which  1G5  would  be  tide  waters — 350  dead 
waters — 445  down,  and  but  490  up  stream  of  current  waters  ;  and  the  most  of  that  regu- 
lated by  canals.  Whereas,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri 
is  1160  miles,  with  its  whole  distance  up  the  stream  of  current  waters.  This  would  evi- 
dently give  the  port  of  New- York  a  share  of  the  trade  in  supplying  the  Missouri  with 
foreign  merchandise,  and  with  a  participation  in  its  fur  trade,  which,  however,  would  return 
with  the  current  of  the  Mississippi — while  the  other  improvements  would  secure  to  that  port 
the  entire  command  of  both  over  all  our  North-western  territory. 

Unless  this  improvement  be  found  practicable  and  become  effected,  it  is  doubtful  whether 
the  port  of  New- York  will  be  able  to  enter  into  competition  with  that  of  New-Orleans  for 
the  Missouri  trade — for  the  increased  distance  of  the  route  through  Lake  Huron,  &c.  and 
the  sometimes  dangerous  navigation  of  that  lake,  with  the  more  lengthy  interruptions  by 
frost,  would  materially  enhance  the  charges  of  transport — nor  could  it  well  be  substituted 
by  a  connection  between  and  improvement  of  the  rivers  Miamee  of  the  lakes  and  Saint 
Joseph,  for  their  courses  are  indirect  and  their  branches  too  small  for  any  other  purpose  of 
improvement  but  the  benefit  of  their  own  shores. 

Valuable  improvements  could  be  made  by  canalling  the  portages  between,  and  improving 
the  beds  of  several  rivers  between  Lake  Erie  and  Ohio  River — between  the  Miamee  of  the 
lakes  and  the  Wabash ;  also  between  the  former  and  the  great  Miamee — between  Sandusky 
and  the  latter ;  and  the  Scioto — and  between  the  Cayuga  and  the  Muskingum.  The  route 
between  the  Sandusky  and  the  Scioto  is  the  best  of  these  in  the  natural  state. 

Another  important  acquisition  to  the  commerce  of  the  port  of  New- York  presents  itself 
to  view — if  the  necessary  improvements  can  but  be  found  practicable — but  it  yet  remains  to 


332 


APPENDIX. 


be  ascertained,  whether  a  draft  can  be  had  on  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie,  and  thrown  into 
any  one  of  the  branches  of  the  Ohio.  The  portage  of  Chatauque  Lake,  and  the  Presque 
Isle,  are  the  only  places  which  offer  a  prospect  at  present.  Of  these,  the  latter  is  the  most 
promising.  The  tapping  at  Presque  Isle  would  of  course  be  thrown  into  the  French  Creek, 
which  is  already  one  of  the  best  navigable  streams,  for  its  size,  in  the  United  States. 

The  land  is  level  along  the  portage  to  La  Boeuf,  and  should  the  French  Creek  be  some- 
thing higher  at  this  place  than  the  lake  at  Presque  Isle,  the  canal  could  be  continued  down 
its  stream  until  it  gained  a  draft.  Should  this  be  found  impracticable,  the  only  alternative 
is  the  Chatauque  Lake,  with  a  less  probability  of  success.  But  were  they  to  fail,  we 
have  an  inferior  substitute  left  us,  by  damming  the  mouth  of  the  Chatauque  and  raising 
it  several  feet,  for  the  purpose  of  opening  it  occasionally  to  facilitate  the  navigation  of  its 
outlet  during  the  summer  droughts. 

This  would  give  a  route  of  transport  from  New-York  to  Buffalo,  465 — to  Presque  Isle, 
90 — to  Pittsburgh  (by  land  125,  add  for  the  bends  of  the  river  40,)  is  165,  making  720  miless 
and  about  the  half  of  it  up  stream,  and  is  80  miles  more  than  twice  the  distance  from  Phila- 
delphia to  Pittsburgh  over  land,  with  a  very  mountainous  road. 

Could  the  capital  improvement  of  commanding  a  draft  on  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie  be 
effected,  it  is  obvious  that  it  would  give  to  the  port  of  New-York,  the  supply  trade  for 
all  the  shores  of  the  Ohio,  and  its  northern  branches,  until  it  was  met  by  arrivals  from  New- 
Orleans. 

This  fertile  country  would  make  able  remittances  for  its  importations. 

HERCULES. 


No.  XI. 

OTHER  IMPROVEMENTS  PROPOSED. 

New-Jersey  is  circumstanced  mostly  for  domestic  trade,  and  to  be  tributary  to  the  two 
first  commercial  ports  in  the  United  States,  situated  on  her  right  and  left. 

It  is  bounded  by  water  on  all  sides  but  her  northern  line,  yet  offers  no  certainty  of  capital 
improvements  in  inland  navigation. 

With  no  part  of  her  territory  more  than  fifty  miles  from  navigable  waters,  she  has  turned 
her  attention  to  the  improvement  of  roads.  The  turnpike  mania  rages  among  her  citizens, 
and  her  legislature  have  granted  charters  by  the  dozen  for  several  years  past.  It  will  be  for- 
tunate for  her  citizens  if  turnpike  stock-jobbing  should  not  happen  to  get  the  preponderance 
over  her  state  councils. 

It  will  be  a  desideratum  to  the  United  States  to  have  a  water  passage  opened  between  the 
Delaware  and  the  Hudson  through  that  state,  for  the  purpose  of  continuing  the  chain  of 
inland  navigation  coastwise  from  South  Carolina  to  Long  Island  Sound,  which  would  be  of 


APPENDIX. 


333 


essential  service  to  the  internal  continental  commerce  during  maritime  wars.  But  the  pros- 
pect is  not  as  flattering  as  our  wishes.  Probably  a  small  canal  could  be  opened  between 
Trenton  Creek  and  Millstone  River — perhaps  the  latter  could  be  straightened  by  a  cut 
across  its  bend,  in  a  direct  line  from  Princeton  to  Amboy. 

Whether  there  could  be  found  a  gap  in  the  Blue  Mountains  suitable  to  admit  of  tapping 
the  Delaware  near  the  north-west  corner  of  the  state  and  throwing  it  into  some  of  the  head 
branches  of  the  Passaic;  or  whether  the  Delaware  would  admit  of  being  tapped  at  the 
southern  termination  of  these  mountains,  somewhere  about  Easton,  and  thrown  into  the 
south  branch  of  the  Raritan — and  this  aided,  or  perhaps  even  effected,  by  the  use  of  the 
Moseonecunk,  are  but  mere  speculations  on  the  map  of  the  state.  Could  a  tapping  of  the 
Delaware  be  effected  at  the  latter  place,  it  would  greatly  aid  the  grand  intersection  of  the 
state,  besides  contributing  to  its  own  trade. 

Pennsylvania  is  possessed  of  a  large  territory,  mostly  a  fertile  soil,  and  rich  in  its  mineral 
productions.  Like  New-York,  it  is  almost  an  interior  state,  and  lias  but  one  principal  sea- 
port ;  but  each  commands  the  trade  of  more  than  their  state  territories. 

Its  large  streams  open  a  field  for  valuable  improvements  in  their  channels  and  canals. — 
As  Philadelphia  can  monopolize  the  trade  of  the  Delaware,  it  is  her  interest  to  bestow  upon 
it  the  most  effectual  improvements.  It  could  be  rendered  navigable  about  two  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  above  that  place,  and  made  to  furnish  that  market  with  lumber,  produce,  and 
pot-ash. 

Of  the  Susquehannah — nature  has  done  much,  but  never  applied  the  finishing  chissel. — 
It  requires,  and  probably  will  admit  of  important  improvements  being  made  in  its  bed  and 
channel.  Maryland  is  largely  interested  in  the  improvements  of  this  river.  Could  the  con- 
tending interests  of  the  two  states  be  reconciled  into  mutual  co-operation  for  the  purpose, 
it  might  be  converted  into  one  of  the  most  extensive  and  valuable  channels  of  trade,  of  any 
other  river  to  the  east  of  the  Alleghany  mountains.  As  it  is,  its  navigation  requires  an  an- 
nual sacrifice  of  a  few  lives  and  much  property.  To  blast  and  remove  the  obstructing  rocks 
might  be  sufficient  for  descending  the  river  in  freshets.  To  ascend  the  river,  its  bed  would 
require  to  be  sunk  at  the  small  rifts,  and  the  large  rapids  dammed,  with  canals  and  locks 
cut  in  its  margin  ;  and  rendered  navigable  through  the  season.  [Since  writing  this  number, 
I  have  been  informed  by  a  gentleman,  that  there  are  sundry  improvements  made  and  mak- 
ing— among  them  the  Conewaga  Falls  are  canalled  and  locked  as  here  proposed.  These 
improvements  afford  excellent  mill-seats.] 

Doctor  Morse  says  the  Susquehannah,  with  all  its  tributary  streams,  "  water  at  least 
15,000,000  acres."  Besides  its  agricultural  products,  the  cast  branch  affords  large  supplies 
of  pine  timber,  from  which  excellent  naval  spars  can  be  obtained.  The  west  branch,  and 
the  Tioga,  abounds  in  excellent  grain  lands.    The  improvement  of  its  navigation  would 

40 


334 


APPENDIX. 


cultivate  these  resources  of  trade,  and  command  the  southern  section  of  the  Genesee 
country. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  the  adventures  made,  a  few  years  since,  at  Newtown,  on  the 
Tioga  branch,  by  the  merchants  of  Geneva,  cost  them  nearly  10,000  dollars.  This  was  a 
large  sum  to  tax  an  infant  settlement  with  experiments. 

The  effect  was  the  turning  of  that  trade  into  the  channel  of  Albany  again. 

To  follow  the  natural  bed  of  this  river  with  its  improvements,  would  be  throwing  its 
whole  trade  into  the  Chesapeake.  Philadelphia,  straitened  to  the  preservation  of  its  com- 
mercial consequence,  has  been  necessitated  to  devise  means  for  diverting  its  extensive  trade 
from  its  natural  channel.  Under  the  enterprising  spirit  which  the  Philadelphians  have  dis- 
played in  prosecuting  their  plans,  I  cannot  but  presume  that  the  idea  of  tapping  the  Susque- 
hannah,  and  throwing  it  into  the  Delaware,  must  have  occurred  to  them  ;  however,  the  idea 
of  its  immense  expense  must  have  deterred  them  from  attempting  it ;  for  instead  of  adopt- 
ing the  only  adequate  means  of  securing  to  themselves  their  share  of  its  trade,  they  have 
resorted  to  the  inefficacious  substitute  of  turnpikes  and  mill-stream  canals. 

It  is  certain  that  the  Susquehannah  is  above  that  of  the  Delaware,  and  affords  the  proba- 
bility of  being  tapped  somewhere. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  the  unevenness  of  the  ground  will  admit  of  the  east  branch  being 
tapped  about  Wilkesbarre,  and  thrown  into  the  Lehigh,  or  the  main  branch  at  Sunbury,  and 
thrown  into  the  west  branch  of  the  Schuylkill.  Could  they  be  effected,  it  would  save  the 
otherwise,  necessarily,  complete  improvement  of  the  bed  of  the  river  below  their  respec- 
tive places ;  and  the  latter,  rather  more  probable  of  the  two,  might  be  thrown  into  the  canal 
which  connects  the  Tulpehocken  and  the  Swatara,  and  would  serve  also  as  a  reservoir  to 
enlarge  and  maintain  that  communication  between  the  Susquehannah  and  the  Delaware 
through  the  summer  droughts.  But  much  the  more  probable  prospect  of  tapping  it  with 
success,  is  either  about  Harrisburgh,  or  at  the  head  of  the  Conewaga  Falls,  and  running  it 
circular — nearly  collateral  with  the  river,  until  it  could  raise  the  height  of  land,  and  thence 
over  to  the  Delaware  near  Philadelphia — or,  about  or  above  the  Conestoga  and  over  to  Phi- 
ladelphia or  Newcastle — or  bolh.  Either  of  these  would  embrace  the  trade  of  the  Juniata, 
with  the  east  and  west  branches  of  the  main  river,  and  avoid  the  part  which  is  the  most 
difficult  of  navigation,  between  Columbia  and  tide  waters. 

Philadelphia  must  effect  some  tapping  of  the  kind,  or  forfeit  nearly  the  whole  trade  of  the 
Susquehannah.  She  is  the  conflict  of  trade  with  the  more  excellent  harbour  of  New- York, 
and  the  more  commodious  situation  of  Baltimore  to  the  back  and  great  western  country, 
with  the  command,  naturally,  over  the  best  river  in  her  state.  Nothing  but  a  spirited  effort 
and  success  in  improvements,  can  preserve  her  from  a  decline  in  trade  ;  but  with  well  effected 
improvements,  and  her  merchants  possessing  a  more  independent  capital,  with  which  they 


APPENDIX. 


335 


are  enabled  to  give  more  liberal  credits  to  country  merchants,  she  could  retain  an  able  com- 
petition with  them. 

The  important  purpose  of  supplying  Philadelphia  and  the  manufacturing  towns  in  the 
lower  part  of  the  state,  with  fuel  from  the  coal  mines,  up  stream  of  all  these  rivers,  would 
alone  be  equivalent  to  the  interest  on  the  sum  of  their  expenses  in  improvements — also  the 
reduction  in  the  transport  charges  of  iron  to  market,  from  the  inexhaustible  ore  beds  about 
their  banks  ;  while  the  small  sized  canals,  fed  by  perishable  streams,  would  scarcely  make 
an  able  competition  with  land  carriage ;  nor  would  be  of  any  consequence  for  the  transport 
of  coal. 

The  head  branches  of  the  Susquehannah  and  the  Juniata  would  merit  their  necessary 
improvements. 

With  respect  to  a  connexion  between  the  waters  on  the  east  and  west  side  of  the  Allc- 
ghanies — between  the  Juniata  and  the  Conemaugh — the  west  branch  of  the  Susquehannah 
and  the  east  branch  of  the  Alleghany — the  Tioga,  and  the  head  of  that  river — they  are  too 
near  their  respective  sources  to  be  durable  or  sizeable,  and  must  be  subject  to  numerous 
locks  or  portages  in  lieu  thereof.  However  enterprise,  and  the  established  connexions  in 
trade,  may  effect  secondary  improvements. 

HERCULES. 


No.  XII. 

OTHER  IMPROVEMENTS  PROPOSED. 

Delaware  has  more  navigable  waters  than  territory.  Like  New-Jersey,  it  is  calculated 
only  for  domestic  trade,  and  to  be  intersected  by  the  continuity  of  the  inland  navigation 
running  collateral  with  our  Atlantic  shores.  It  is  this  alone  which  will  give  to  that  state 
its  chief  importance  in  this  point  of  view.  It  will  have  to  be  effected  by  connecting  Chris- 
tiana and  Elk  creeks,  unless  its  level  ground  will  somewhere  admit  of  cutting  a  canal  which 
can  be  supplied  by  tide  waters. 

Maryland,  whose  indented  shores  of  tide  waters,  perhaps  exceed  any  other  state  in  the 
Union,  commands  an  important  rank  in  a  commercial  point  of  view,  by  the  invaluable  inter- 
section of  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  and  the  concentration  of  its  capital  near  the  head  of  it  at 
Baltimore.  It  already  classes  the  third  in  the  United  States,  and  it  ever  will  maintain  its 
position. 

Its  chief  improvements  in  inland  navigation  are,  the  bed  and  channel  of  the  Susquehan- 
nah in  concert  with  Pennsylvania ;  with  Virginia  for  the  improvement  of  the  Potomac,  and, 
if  possible,  to  straighten  it  in  its  upper  bends — to  tap  it,  perhaps  about  the  elbow,  near  the 


336 


APPENDIX. 


Monocasy,  and  throw  it  into  the  Patapsco,  near  Baltimore,  a  distance  of  about  fifty  miles : 
and  a  joint  intersection  with  Delaware  by  the  Atlantic  parallel  canal. 

If  the  head  of  tide  waters  in  the  Chesapeake  afford  a  good  harbour,  it  will  furnish  a  mart 
that  will  enter  into  competition  with  Baltimore,  at  least  for  the  Susquehannah  trade.  The 
tapping  would  establish  Baltimore  in  the  preference  for  the  Ohio  trade,  in  which  she  already 
rivals  Philadelphia  by  overland  transport ;  and  unless  New-York  can  come  into  the  compe- 
tition by  an  outlet  of  Lake  Erie  into  the  Ohio,  Baltimore  will  eventually  become  the  mis- 
tress of  this  trade. 

It  is  singular  how  the  celebrated  Doctor  Morse  came  to  give  this  trade,  with  that  of  all 
the  lakes  west  of  Ontario,  to  the  borough  of  Alexandria.  Surely  it  could  not  have  been 
the  Doctor's  political  partiality  for  the  southern  states  which  led  him  to  bestow  it  there  at 
the  expense  of  New-York.  But  I  presume  he  had  not  correctly  informed  himself  of  nature's 
calculation  on  the  subject.  He  has  been  led  into  a  very  considerable  error  respecting  the 
distances  between  the  places.  He  lays  down  the  distances  from  the  mouth  of  the  Cuyahoga 
to  Alexandria  425 — and  to  New-York  825 — making  a  difference  of  400  miles. 

The  result  of  my  labours  to  ascertain  the  distances,  is  as  follows — From  Alexandria  up 
the  Potomac  to  George's  Creek  230  miles  (see  Morse's  Geography,  p.  622) to  Savage  River, 
say  6 — portage  from  this  to  Cheat  River  37 — to  its  mouth  50  (see  Gazeteer,  under  Cheat 
River) — down  the  Monongahela  to  Red  Stone,  by  water,  40 — to  its  junction  with  the  Yoho- 
gany  50 — to  Pittsburgh  1 2  (see  Gaz. ) — down  to  Big  Beaver  30 — up  that,  across  the  portage, 
and  down  the  Cuyahoga  to  Lake  Erie,  by  their  meandering  180 — making  635  miles.  The 
other  route,  from  Cuyahoga  to  Buffalo  190 — to  mouth  of  Niagara  River  36 — to  Oswego  160 
— to  Oneida  Lake  43 — across  it  27 — to  Rome  26 — to  Utica  25 — to  Schenectady  82 — its 
portage  to  Albany  16 — to  New- York  165 — total  768  miles.  But  the  Doctor  has  very  partially 
added  the  distance  from  Albany  to  New- York  ;  whereas  Albany  is  as  properly  the  head  of 
tide  waters  on  this  route  as  Alexandria  is  on  the  other,  the  distance  of  which  is  603  from 
Cuyahoga,  or  32  miles  less  than  Alexandria,  instead  of  400  miles  further. 

Let  Albany  get  the  Genesee  Canal  completed,  and  Baltimore  the  one  above  proposed 
from  the  Potomac,  and  they  become  the  two  principal  points.  Albany  will  then  be  about 
500  from  Cuyahoga,  and  Baltimore  about  the  same  as  Alexandria,  about  130  miles  further, 
nor  will  it  be  to  her  purpose  to  go  to  the  expense  of  shortening  those  fluctuating  streams. — 
From  this  consideration,  Baltimore  will  only  take  into  view  the  Ohio  trade.  If  a  draft  can 
be  obtained  on  Lake  Erie  into  the  Ohio,  as  was  mentioned  in  the  tenth  number,  with  its  dis- 
tance from  New-York  720  miles  to  Pittsburgh — or  550  from  Albany — that  from  Baltimore 
being  about  425,*  leaves  a  difference  between  them  of  125  miles.    (The  Doctor  in  his  Geo- 


*  The  above  estimated  distance  from  Alexandria  to  Pittsburg  I  have  taken  entirely  from  the  Doc- 
tor's own  works ;  but  in  his  Geography,  Vol.  I.  p.  188,  the  Doctor  gives  this  for  the  distance  from  Al- 


APPENDIX. 


337 


graphy,  page  188,  makes  this  difference  580  miles,  and  the  Doctor  is  more  apprehensive  of 
interruptions  from  a  Canadian  or  Indian  war  than  our  frontier  settlements  are.)  This  will 
produce  an  able  competition  between  the  two  places.  Albany,  through  the  aid  of  New- 
York,  will  be  able  to  afford  European  goods  about  the  same  as  Baltimore;  but  the  latter 
will  undersell  the  former  in  West  India  produce.  Albany  will  have  a  capacious  and  per- 
manent inland  navigation  for  eight  or  nine  months  in  the  year.  Baltimore  cannot  depend 
on  hers  for  more  than  four  or  five  months. 

Our  surprise  at  the  Doctor's  partiality  for  the  southern  route  still  increases  on  reading 
his  information  of  the  Potomac — "  At  Fort  Cumberland,  in  a  dry  season,  it  is  but  a  small 
stream,"  and  yet  he  proposes  to  navigate  it  about  thirty  miles  further  up — and  of  the 
Monongahela,  in  his  note  to  page  538,  he  says,  "  the  Monongahela  which  commonly  is 
barely  sufficient  to  turn  two  grist-mills,  after  great  rains,  sometimes  suddenly  rises  nearly 
40  feet." 

The  Doctor,  when  "  strolling  into  the  uncertain  field  of  conjecture,"  over  the  map  of  our 
country,  wherever  he  .could  catch  a  brace  of  brooks  in  the  neighbourhood  of  each  other,  and 
running  in  different  directions,  he  projected  a  canal  between  them,  and  cut  up  the  continent 
"  into  a  cluster  of  large  and  fertile  islands." 

The  aborigines  of  our  country,  through  their  want  of  science  and  resources,  and  from 
their  strong  propensity  to  indolence,  have  pursued  the  natural  bed  of  streams,  and  towed 
their  boats  to  the  head  springs  and  backed  them  over  the  portages,  as  a  make-shift; 
but  it  would  be  a  burlesque  on  civilization  and  the  useful  arts,  for  the  inventive  and 
enterprising  genius  of  European  Americans,  with  their  large  bodies  and  streams  of 
fresh  water  for  inland  navigation,  to  be  contented  with  navigating  farm  brooks  in  bark 
canoes. 

HERCULES. 


No.  XIII. 

OTHER  IMPROVEMENTS  PROPOSED. 

In  proceeding  to  notice  the  states  to  the  south  of  Maryland,  I  premise,  that  owing  to  the 
Apalachian  mountains  precluding  any  principal  connexion  between  their  eastern  and  western 
waters,  to  their  being  more  agricultural  than  either  commercial  or  manufactural,  I  have  pre- 


exandria  to  Cuyahoga.  I  have  been  positive  there  was  an  error  in  the  Doctor's  statement  for  some 
time  past,  but  had  never  informed  myself  how  great,  until  I  made  the  above  calculation  ;  nor  where  it 
lay,  until  I  had  gone  through  with  it,  and  proceeded  thus  far  in  the  number. 


338 


APPENDIX. 


sumed  their  views  to  be  more  confined  to  territorial  and  local  pursuits  ;  and  the  want  of" 
particular  information,  not  inattention  to  their  respective  interests,  will  lead  me  necessarily 
to  be  brief  in  my  remarks  on  them. 

Virginia  "  affords  almost  every  planter  a  river  at  his  door."  It  has  a  common  interest 
with  Maryland  in  improving  the  Potomac  and  the  Shenandoah,  on  which  essays  are  already 
made ;  if  possible,  the  former  would  merit  the  straightening  of  its  bends  above  the  junction 
of  the  latter.  Also,  with  North  Carolina,  in  continuing  the  Atlantic  parallel,  by  a  canal 
through  the  great  Dismal  Swamp,  which  is  already  undertaken,  but  probably  on  too  small  a 
scale. 

It  has  the  Rappahannock,  York,  James,  Appamatox,  Staunton,  and  the  great  Kanhawa. 
Of  these,  James  River,  from  its  size,  merits  particular  attention. 

The  light  streams  of  Jacksons  and  Green  Briar  rivers,  the  approximating  branches  of 
James  and  Kanhawa ;  the  impeding  mountains  on  their  portage  ;  and  perhaps  the  indisposi- 
tion of  its  inhabitants  to  commercial  enterprise,  are  causes  which  reduce  the  importance  of" 
this  western  communication  to  locality. 

North  Carolina  has  its  proportion  of  rivers  and  inland  navigation.  It  has  too  much  about 
its  coast,  with  its  sounds,  their  impeding  shoals,  and  inlets.  Its  quota  of  the  canal  through 
the  great  Dismal  Swamp  continued  into  Albemarle  sound.  Its  rivers  are,  Roanoke,  Pam- 
lico, Nuse,  Cape  Fear,  and  their  branches  ;  the  Dan,  Yadkin,  and  Catawba,  which,  although 
more  or  less  navigable,  are  no  doubt  susceptible  of  valuable  improvements. 

South  Carolina  appears  on  the  map  to  be  admirably  well  watered  by  rivulets.  The  prin- 
cipal rivers,  which  it  offers  for  improvement,  are  the  great  Pedee,  the  Santee  and  its  valuable 
branches,  and  the  Savannah  in  conjunction  with  Georgia.  Probably  the  Santee  might  be 
tapped  about  Nelson's  ferry  and  thrown  into  Coopers  River  and  to  Charleston — also  at  Mur- 
ry's  ferry  and  overland  to  Georgetown. 

Georgia  has  a  major  interest  in  the  improvement  of  the  Savannah  and  its  branches — the 
Ogeechee,  the  Alatamaha  and  its  branches. 

The  western  states,  from  their  interior  situation,  would  have  no  custom-house  dividend  to 
defray  the  expense  of  their  improvements ;  the  public  lands  in  their  territories,  however, 
could  be  appropriated  to  the  purpose  in  payment  to  the  workmen.  Two  or  three  years  labour 
would  purchase  and  stock  a  farm  for  those  who  had  no  capital  to  procure  it ;  nor  would  the 
government  feel  so  sensibly  the  high  price  of  labour  ;  and  this  would  have  the  mutual  effect 
of  improving  and  populating  the  interior  of  our  country. 

Ohio  has  the  Cuyahoga  and  the  Sandusky,  on  the  north — and  the  Muskingum,  Hock- 
hocking,  the  Scioto,  and  the  Miamees,  on  the  south,  most  of  which  were  spoken  of  under 
New-York. 

Indiana  has  the  Wabash,  Illinois,  and  the  Kaskiaskis. 

Kentucky  has,  in  conjunction  with  Ohio  and  others,  the  canalling  of  the  rapids  of  the 


APPENDIX. 


339 


Ohio  river.  It  ought  to  be  cut  20  or  30  feet  deep  to  encourage  the  large  sized  ship-building 
up  stream.  The  village  of  Marietta,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum,  has  already  suffered 
by  their  experiments  in  the  business,  a  sum  perhaps  equal  to  half  the  expense  of  it. 

The  culture  of  hemp,  establishments  in  the  manufactory  of  iron,  cordage,  and  duck,  added 
to  ship-building,  will  afford  a  valuable  resource  to  that  country.  The  Sandy,  Licking, 
Kentucky,  and  Green  rivers,  may  admit  of  improvements  for  the  internal  trade  of  that 
country. 

Tennesee  has  the  two  valuable  rivers  of  Tennesee  and  Cumberland.  Their  head  branches 
would  require  the  chief  improvements,  except  the  Muscle  Shoals  in  the  former. 

The  Mississippi  Territory  has  the  Tombigbee,  Coosee,  Tallapoosee,  Chatahoosec,  and  Flint 
rivers.  Tennesee  will  have  a  joint  interest  in  endeavouring  to  canal  the  portages  between 
the  Tennesee  and  the  head  branches  of  the  Coosee  and  Tombigbee.  The  Tennesee  might 
be  tapped  below  the  junction  of  Clench  River  and  thrown  into  the  former;  and  tapped 
again  above  the  Muscle  Shoals,  and  thrown  on  to  the  crown  land  between  the  latter  and 
Bear  Creek,  which  falls  into  the  Tennesee.  The  latter  would  give  a  new  route  for  the  im- 
portation of  merchandise  into  the  states  of  Tennesee  and  Kentucky.  With  100  miles  tide- 
waters in  the  Mobile;  250  miles  up  stream  in  the  Tombigbee,  50  miles  canal;  and  230  miles 
down  Bear  Creek  and  the  Tennesee  to  its  mouth,  making  630  miles  from  Mobile  Bay  to  the 
Ohio  River  45  miles  above  the  Mississippi,  and  but  300  miles  of  the  distance  against  cur- 
rent waters ;  which  is  1057  miles  by  the  Mississippi,  and  the  whole  distance  of  it  up 
stream. 

To  possess  the  jurisdiction  of  the  mouths  of  the  rivers  which  traverse  this  territory,  and 
the  custom-houses  necessarily  established  on  them,  is  an  argument  for  our  government  to 
purchase  the  Floridas.  Unfortunately,  the  harbours  of  these  rivers  are  shallow  and  will  be 
of  less  value  unless  they  can  be  improved. 

What  will  be  the  utility,  or  even  policy,  of  cutting  across  the  bends  and  straightening 
the  Mississippi  ?  Whether  the  increased  rapidity  of  its  current  will  not  over-balance  the 
shortened  distance,  is  a  subject  on  which  I  will  not  venture  to  speculate,  except  to  remark, 
that,  with  a  straightened  channel  to  that  river,  there  would  probably  be  less  drowned  lands 
on  its  margin. 

A  marine  canal,  the  most  noble  work  of  the  kind  on  this  "  ball  of  earth,"  would  be  a  cut 
across  the  Isthmus  of  Darien.  Were  the  Mexican  empire  under  an  independent  govern- 
ment— or  even  under  an  enterprising  one — this  would  be  done  in  less  than  half  a  century, 
and  those  provinces  opened  to  a  liberal  trade,  under  which  their  abundant  resources  would 
make  them  immensely  wealthy.  Nature  never  has,  nor  will,  endure  the  jealousy  and  selfish 
dogmas  of  man  with  impunity.  From  the  huckster's  shop  to  the  chartered  company's  ship- 
ping warehouse,  the  principle  continues  the  same.    Wherever  the  avarice  and  vanity  of 


340 


APPENDIX. 


man  has  imposed  his  restrictions — whether  in  religion,  politics,  or  commerce, — she  has  en- 
tered her  caveat  to  them. 
I  shall  conclude  the  subject  with  some  general  observations. 

HERCULES. 


No.  XIV. 

The  following  is  extracted  from  the  Boston  Palladium,  and  has  led  me  to  give  this  as  an 
extraneous  number. 

"  Messrs.  Editors,  I  was  extremely  happy,  a  few  days  since,  when  in  the  lobby  of  the  se- 
nate chamber  to  hear  the  report  read  of  the  committee  appointed  by  the  legislature  to  explore 
and  survey  the  ground  for  a  water-communication  from  the  harbour  of  Boston,  through  the 
towns  of  Weymouth,  Braintree,  Abington,  Bridgewater,  Raynham,  by  Taunton,  to  Narra- 
ganset  Bay  and  Rhode-Island.  The  idea  of  a  canal  to  connect  the  southern  and  northern 
waters,  (which  will  prevent  the  necessity  of  going  round  the  capes  in  perilous  seasons  of  the 
year,)  and  save  a  distance  of  several  hundred  miles,  is  a  subject  which  has  long  since  been 
contemplated,  and  which  I  rejoice  to  hear  is  likely  to  go  into  effect.  From  the  above  report 
we  are  told,  that  the  whole  distance,  from  tide-waters  in  Weymouth  to  Taunton,  is  only  26 
miles,  on  the  route  proposed  by  the  canal;  that  the  grounds  are  very  favourable,  and  that 
there  are  a  great  number  of  large  ponds  which  will  afford  a  sufficiency  of  water  for  the 
canal,  and  which  are  of  a  sufficient  height  above  the  ground  where  the  canal  is  proposed  to 
be  built.  These  circumstances,  which  I  suppose  may  be  relied  on,  (as  the  committee  have 
taken  an  accurate  spirit  level,)  reduced  it  to  a  certainty  that  the  project  is  practicable,  and 
that  nothing  is  wanting,  but  a  portion  of  that  spirit  of  enterprise,  which  has  ever  characte- 
rized the  citizens  of  this  country,  to  carry  it  into  effect.  I  sincerely  hope,  that  the  report 
will  be  published,  and  that  some  suitable  and  enterprising  men  will  undertake  the  business, 
and  I  have  no  doubt,  when  the  advantages  which  will  result  from  it  are  made  known,  that 
the  different  states  in  the  union  will  not  hesitate  a  moment  to  furnish  the  means  and  carry  it 
into  operation,  as  it  is  a  subject  which  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  all  the  states  that 
border  on  the  southern  ocean." 

In  my  IXth  number,  under  the  head  of  Massachusetts,  and  remarking  on  the  canal  pro- 
posed by  Dr.  Morse,  in  his  geography,  across  the  isthmus  of  Cape  Cod,  to  form  a  junction 
between  Barnstable  and  Buzzards  Bays — after  having  objected  to  the  idea  of  its  being  made 
for  a  boat  navigation  only,  I  observed,  "  however,  could  a  ship-channel  of  1 5  or  20  feet  depth 
be  cut  through,  and  admit  of  the  ebb  and  flood  of  the  tides,  it  would  be  a  valuable  abridg- 
ment of  the  length  and  risk  of  the  passage  of  the  Sound  coasters  to  and  from  Boston."  At 


APPENDIX. 


341 


the  time  of  writing  this,  I  did  not  know  that  there  was  any  design  of  prosecuting  a  project 
of  the  kind  immediately. 

The  execution  of  it  would  be  an  extension  of  the  Atlantic  parallel,  by  passing  through 
Long-Island  Sound,  by  Newport,  through  Narraganset  Bay  and  the  canal,  to  Boston.  In 
this  view,  only,  can  it  be  advantageous  to  "  the  different  states  in  the  union," — unless  its 
bed  can  be  sunk  sufficient  to  admit  of  being  supplied  by  tide-waters  ;  for,  except  it  was  made 
passable,  and  easy  for  the  southward  and  Sound  coasters,  they  would  have  to  harbour  at  New- 
port, and  shirt  their  cargoes  into  canal  boats  for  Boston.  This  interrupted  continuity  of  the 
voyage  would  enhance  the  price  of  freight  equal  to  the  difference  in  the  premium  of  insu- 
rance on  the  cargo  in  navigating  it  around  the  capes,  and  its  utility  would  be  confined  to  the 
ports  of  Boston,  Newport,  and  Providence,  in  time  of  peace. 

Presuming  on  the  doubtful  prospect  of  throwing  the  tide  into  the  canal,  I  am  decidedly 
in  favour  of  opening  a  communication  between  the  two  bays.  If  I  have  a  correct  idea  of  it, 
the  ground  between  is  level  and  well  adapted  to  the  undertaking  ;  and,  when  opened,  would 
admit  of  an  excellent  draft  of  the  tide.  The  floods  of  the  tides  in  the  Atlantic  flow  to  the 
west,  and  the  ebbs  to  the  cast;  of  course,  the  current  of  flood,  in  the  canal,  would  flow  from 
Barnstable  into  Buzzards  Bay,  and  the  ebb  vice  versa.  Barnstable  Bay  being  situated  fur- 
ther east  and  more  open  to  receive  the  flood  than  Buzzards  Bay,  the  tides  would  be  nearly 
an  hour  earlier  in  the  former  than  in  the  latter  ;  and  the  tide,  by  being  pent  up  in  the  former, 
would  give  a  head  that  would  set  a  strong  current  through  the  canal  into  the  latter. 

The  ebbs  in  the  former,  being  earlier  than  in  the  latter,  would  set  the  current  of  ebb  from 
the  latter  into  the  former.  This  would  give  the  certainty  of  a  passage  through  the  canal 
twice  in  24  hours,  either  way. 

I  presume  the  same  expense  which  would  open  a  good  boat  canal  for  '26  miles  would  open 
a  good  ship  canal  for  6  miles,  which  would  equally  accommodate  the  West  India  merchant- 
men and  the  coasters.  Martha's  Vineyard  has  become  a  great  resort-harbour  for  vessels 
coming  in  from  the  southern  latitudes.  Were  the  canal  to  be  opened,  the  most  of  this  resort 
might  be  transferred  to  Buzzards  Bay,  which  would  probably  afford  equally  as  safe  and 
commodious  harbour ;  and  the  canal  could  have  basins  cut  in  it,  whicli  would  afford  more 
safe  harbours  than  nature  ever  furnished. 

The  greatest  natural  impediment  which  I  conceive  may  be  found  an  obstacle  to  this  im- 
provement, is  perhaps  the  want  of  sufficient  bold  shores  at  the  head  of  these  bays. 

HERCULES. 


After  the  perusal  of  these  able  essays  of  Mr.  Hawley,  it  cannot  be  doubted 
that  they  must  have  had  a  great  influence  upon  the  public  mind,  as  prepara- 

41 


342 


APPENDIX. 


tory  to  the  legislative  measures  which  succeeded.  He  will,  therefore,  be 
considered  as  entitled  to  an  honourable  rank  among  the  projectors  of  the 
Erie  Canal. 

The  writer  of  the  article  on  "  the  New-York  Canals,"  in  the  North  Ame- 
rican Review,  vol.  14th,  thus  notices  the  essays,  now  reprinted. 

"  Mention  is  made  of  fourteen  essays  which  appeared  in  1807,  and  are 
attributed  to  Jesse  Havvley,  Esq.  of  Rochester.  The  account  given  makes  us 
regret,  that  we  have  never  been  able  to  see  them.  The  route  of  the  canal  is 
laid  down,  the  distance  calculated,  and  the  expense  estimated,  as  experience  has 
shown,  with  remarkable  accuracy.  Our  readers  will  recollect  that  this  was 
before  any  legislative  proceeding  on  the  subject,  and  is,  therefore,  more  wor- 
thy of  observation,  on  account  of  the  minuteness  of  the  details,  the  boldness 
of  the  conception,  and  the  courage  of  supporting  that  which  was,  then, 
esteemed  a  wild  and  extravagant  attempl." 


Note. — p.  93. 

Claims  of  Joshua  Forman. 

In  the  session  of  1808,  Mr.  J.  Forman,  being  then  a  member  of  the  assembly 
from  Onondaga  county,  after  an  appropriate  preamble,  referring  to  President 
Jefferson's  message  of  the  preceding  year,  in  which  he  had  suggested  the 
propriety  of  devoting  so  much  of  the  national  revenue  as  the  exigencies  of 
the  government  did  not  require,  to  making  roads  and  canals,  proposed  a  con- 
current resolution,  to  direct  a  survey  to  be  made  *•  of  the  most  eligible  and 
direct  route  of  a  canal,  to  open  a  communication  between  the  tide-waters  of 
the  Hudson  River  and  Lake  Erie."  If  we  except  the  bill  introduced  into  the 
assembly,  by  Jeffrey  Smith,  in  1786,  which  has  been  already  noticed,  this  is 
the  first  legislative  measure  that  had  reference  to  a  direct  canal  from  the  Hud- 
son to  Lake  Erie  of  which  there  is  any  record.  The  following  letter  from 
Mr.  Forman,  in  answer  to  one  addressed  to  him  by  me,  soliciting  more  detailed 
information  relative  to  his  services  than  had  appeared  in  the  public  journals, 
contains  so  ample  and  interesting  a  story  of  his  measures,  the  circumstances 


APPENDIX. 


343 


which  induced  them,  and  the  important  results  which  flowed  from  them,  that 
further  comment,  on  my  part,  is  rendered  unnecessary. 

Letter  from  Joshua  Forman. 

Franklin,  N.  J.  Oct.  13, 1828. 

Dear  Sir, 

In  answering  your  kind  letter,  requesting  such  information  as  I  can 
communicate  of  the  early  history  of  the  canal,  with  a  view  to  do  justice  to  the 
claims  of  all  who  took  an  interest  in  that  great  work,  I  shall  endeavour  to 
state  such  facts  and  circumstances,  in  relation  thereto,  as  appear  to  me  im- 
portant to  be  known,  with  the  candour  the  subject  merits  ;  submitting  to  the 
soundness  of  your  judgment,  and  the  justness  of  your  intentions,  to  give  such 
importance  to  them  as  they  deserve. 

On  taking  my  seat  as  a  member  of  assembly,  for  the  county  of  Onondaga, 
at  the  session  of  1807-8,  my  bookseller  handed  me  several  numbers  of  Rees1 
Cyclopedia,  to  which  I  was  a  subscriber.  I  had  early  been  acquainted  with 
the  projected  works  of  the  Inland  Lock  Navigation  Company  from  the  Hud- 
son River  to  Lake  Ontario,  and  had  seen  in  the  statute  book  an  act  to  incor- 
porate a  company  to  lock  up  the  Niagara  Falls  from  Lake  Ontario  to  Lake 
Erie.  In  reading,  at  my  leisure,  in  the  article  "  canal,"  an  account  of  the 
numerous  canals  and  improved  river  navigations  in  England,  I  soon  discovered 
the  relative  importance  of  the  former  over  the  latter.  Applying  this  to  our 
interior,  I  perceived  how  much  more  the  country  would  be  benefited  by  a  canal 
than  by  the  works  contemplated  ;  and  observing  the  number  of  profitable 
canals  intersecting  a  country  of  such  small  extent  from  sea  to  sea  as  the 
northern  part  of  England,  it  occurred  to  me,  that,  if  a  canal  was  ever  made 
to  open  a  communication  from  the  Hudson  to  the  western  lakes,  it  would  be 
worth  more  than  all  the  extra  cost  to  go  directly  through  the  country  to  Lake 
Erie.  Glancing  my  eye  along  the  line  it  must  pass,  it  appeared  to  me,  from 
the  knowledge  I  had  of  the  country,  to  be  practicable.  Sitting,  at  the  time, 
in  the  room  with  Judge  Wright  and  General  M'Niel  of  Oneida,  my  room- 
mates, I  immediately  broached  the  subject  to  them.  At  first,  Judge  Wright 
objected,  that  it  would  be  a  folly  to  make  a  canal  150  miles  abreast  of  a  good 


344 


APPENDIX. 


sloop  navigation  in  Lake  Ontario.  To  this  I  replied,  that  the  rich  country 
through  which  it  must  pass  would,  of  itself,  support  a  canal  ;  and  the  benefit 
of  a  continued  navigation,  safe  from  the  dangers  of  the  sea  at  all  times  and 
from  the  enemy  in  time  of  war,  and  building  up  a  line  of  towns  in  the  interior 
which  must  grow  up  on  the  Lake  shore,  if  that  was  to  be  the  route  of  trans- 
portation, would  abundantly  compensate  the  extra  expense  of  a  direct  canal, 
over  that  of  a  canal  and  lockage  from  the  point  of  departure  down  to  Lake 
Ontario  and  up  by  Niagara  to  Lake  Erie.  The  subject  was  freely  discussed. 
Judge  Wright  gave  in  to  the  plan,  and  it  was  agreed  by  all,  that  the  project 
was  of  immense  importance,  and  measures  ought  to  be  taken  to  ascertain  its 
practicability.  I  drew  up  the  resolution,  as  now  printed,*  which  Judge  Wright 
agreed  to  second,  that  it  might  lie  on  the  table  until,  by  the  rules  of  the  house, 


*    "  In  Assembly,  February  4,  1808. 

"  Mr.  Forman  called  up  for  consideration  the  following  resolution,  heretofore  submitted 
and  ordered  to  lie  on  the  table;  which,  being  read,  was  agreed  to,  in  the  words  following, 
to  wit : — 

"  Whereas,  the  President  of  the  United  States,  by  his  message  to  Congress,  delivered  at 
their  meeting  in  October  last,  did  recommend,  that  the  surplus  moneys  in  the  treasury,  over 
and  above  such  sums  as  could  be  applied  to  the  extinguishment  of  the  national  debt,  be  ap- 
propriated to  the  great  national  objects  of  opening  canals  and  making  turnpike  roads.  And 
whereas,  the  state  of  New-York,  holding  the  first  commercial  rank  in  the  United  States, 
possesses  within  herself  the  best  route  of  communication  between  the  Atlantic  and  western 
waters,  by  means  of  a  canal  between  the  tide-waters  of  the  Hudson  River  and  Lake  Erie, 
through  which  the  wealth  and  trade  of  that  large  portion  of  the  union,  bordering  on  the 
upper  lakes,  would  for  ever  flow  to  our  great  commercial  emporium.  And  whereas,  the 
legislatures  of  several  of  our  sister  states  have  made  great  exertions  to  secure  to  their  own 
states,  the  trade  of  that  widely  extended  country,  west  of  the  Alleghany,  under  natural 
advantages  vastly  inferior  to  those  of  this  state.  And  whereas,  it  is  highly  important  that 
those  advantages  should,  as  speedily  as  possible,  be  improved,  both  to  preserve  and  increase 
the  commercial  and  national  importance  of  this  state  : — Therefore, 

Resolved,  (if  the  honourable  the  Senate  concur  herein,)  that  a  joint  committee  be  ap- 
pointed to  take  into  consideration  the  propriety  of  exploring  and  causing  an  accurate  survey 
to  be  made  of  the  most  eligible  and  direct  route  for  a  canal,  to  open  a  communication  be- 
tween the  tide-waters  of  the  Hudson  River  and  Lake  Erie,  to  the  end  that  Congress  may 


APPENDIX. 


345 


it  might  be  called  up.  Without  much  confidence  that  the  general  govern- 
ment would  construct  such  a  canal,  I  framed  the  resolution  to  take  advantage 
of  Mr.  Jefl'erson's  proposition,  to  expend  the  surplus  revenues  of  the  nation  in 
making  roads  and  canals,  to  induce  our  legislature  to  explore  the  route  of  a 
canal,  which,  if  proposed  as  a  work  of  the  state,  would  not  have  been  listened 
to  at  all ;  and  although  I  had  stated  the  proposition  in  a  favourable  light  in 
the  preamble,  when  it  was  read  in  the  house  it  produced  such  expressions  of 
surprise  and  ridicule  as  are  due  to  a  very  wild  foolish  project. 

Fired  with  the  novelty  and  importance  of  my  project,  and  somewhat  piqued 
at  the  manner  of  its  reception  in  the  house,  I  took  pains  to  prepare  myself  on 
the  subject,  conversed  with  several  of  the  members  at  their  rooms,  and  when 
it  was  called  up,  addressed  the  house  in  support  of  the  resolution.  I  stated 
in  evidence  of  its  being  practicable,  that  after  following  the  valley  of  the 
Mohawk  to  Rome,  it  would  have  the  valley  of  the  Oneida  and  Seneca  Rivers 
to  the  head  of  Mud  Creek,  an  uncommonly  flat  country ;  and  from  the  west, 
(if  no  better  route  was  found,)  from  the  Niagara  up  the  Tonnewanta  and 
down  Allen's  Creek  to  the  Genesee  River,  the  intermediate  country,  although 
nothing  particularly  favourable  was  known,  yet  as  there  was  no  high  moun- 
tains or  large  rivers  intervening,  it  would  most  likely  be  found  practicable 
without  any  of  those  expensive  tunnels  or  aqueducts  common  to  canals  in 
Europe.  I  presented  a  probable  estimate  of  its  cost,  calculated  from  that  of 
the  Languedoc  Canal,  at  4,500,000  dollars  ;  this  doubled,  for  the  advanced 
price  of  labour,  which  I  considered  a  large  allowance,  and  adding  a  million 
for  inexperience,  gave  10,000,000  dollars,  in  my  opinion  an  ample  estimate 
for  the  work,  which  must  appear  a  bagatelle  to  the  value  of  such  a  naviga- 
tion, whether  considered  in  relation  to  the  state,  in  improving  the  western  dis- 
trict, and  enriching  the  city  of  New- York  by  the  trade  of  the  rich  and  grow- 
ing country  bordering  on  the  western  lakes  ;  or  as  respected  the  United  States, 


be  enabled  to  appropriate  such  sums  as  may  be  necessary  to  the  accomplishment  of  that 
great  national  object ;  and  in  case  of  such  concurrence,  that  Mr.  Gold,  Mr.  Gilbert,  Mr. 
Forman,  Mr.  German,  and  Mr.  Ilogeboom,  be  a  committee  on  the  part  of  this  house."  Canal 
Documents,  Vol.  I.  page  7. 


346 


APPENDIX. 


whose  forty  or  fifty  millions  of  acres  of  land,  bordering  on  the  lakes,  would 
be  enhanced  in  value  beyond  the  whole  expense  by  causing  their  rapid  settle- 
ment, form  a  dense  frontier  barrier  towards  Canada,  and  by  forming  an  outlet 
for  their  trade  through  our  own  territory,  instead  of  its  flowing  down  the  St. 
Lawrence,  it  would  be  an  indissoluble  bond  of  union  between  the  Western 
and  Atlantic  states— and  I  recollect  distinctly  observing,  that  it  would  chain 
them  to  our  destinies  in  any  national  convulsion. 

The  resolution  was  adopted  on  the  ground,  as  expressed  by  several,  "  that 
it  could  do  no  harm,  and  might  do  some  good."  The  senate  concurred,  and 
when  the  joint  committee  met,  so  strong  was  the  prepossession  in  favour  of 
the  Oswego  route,  that  instead  of  directing  the  survey  of  a  canal  direct  to 
Lake  Erie,  as  the  original  resolution  proposed,  they  reported  a  joint  resolution 
directing  the  surveyor-general  to  cause  a  survey  to  be  made  of  the  rivers 
streams,  and  waters  in  the  usual  route  between  the  Hudson  River  and  Lake 
Erie,  and  such  other  route  as  he  may  deem  proper,*  thus  shifting  from  them- 
selves the  responsibility  of  countenancing  so  wild  a  project,  they  only  left  a 

chance  of  its  being  examined  at  the  discretion  of  the  surveyor-general.  

The  trifling  appropriation  of  six  hundred  dollars  was  all  that  could  be 
obtained  for  the  purpose;  and  so  intent  was  the  surveyor-general  upon 
going  through  Lake  Ontario,  that  he  expended  most  of  the  money  exploring 
routes  in  that  direction.  I  conversed  frequently  during  the  season  with 
Judge  Geddes,  who  was  appointed  to  make  the  surveys,  and  explained 
to  him  my  views  on  the  subject  of  the  interior  route,  who  entered  zea- 
lously into  the  project,  and  on  his  return  from  the  west  in  December,  in- 
formed me  of  the  important  discoveries  he  had  made,  particularly  in  that 
part  deemed  most  difficult  between  Mud  Creek  and  Genesee  River,  and  read 
me  parts  of  his  report,  proving  most  conclusively  the  practicability  of  the 
proposed  canal.  Shortly  after,  being  at  New-York  on  business,  and  much 
elated  with  the  result  of  the  examination,  I  made  a  trip  to  Washington,  al- 
most entirely  to  converse  with  Mr.  Jefferson  on  the  subject.  Sometime  in 
January,  1801),  I  called  on  him  in  company  with  Wm.  Kirkpatrick,  Esq.  of 


*  Canal  Documents,  Vol.  I.  p.  8 — 9. 


APPENDIX. 


347 


Salina,  then  Member  of  Congress,  who  introduced  me,  and  informed  him,  that 
in  view  of  his  proposal  to  expend  the  surplus  revenues  of  the  nation  in  making 
roads  and  canals,  the  state  of  New-York  had  explored  the  route  of  a  canal 
from  the  Hudson  River  to  Lake  Erie,  and  had  found  it  practicable  beyond 
their  most  sanguine  expectations  ;  after  recapitulating  in  as  laconic  a  manner 
as  I  could,  some  of  the  most  important  advantages  it  offered  to  the  nation  as 
inducements  to  undertake  it — enhancing  the  value  of  their  lands — settling 
the  frontier — opening  a  channel  of  commerce  for  the  western  country  to  our 
own  sea-ports — a  military  way  in  time  of  war,  and  a  bond  of  union  to  the 
states.  He  replied,  it  was  a  very  fine  project,  and  might  be  executed  a  cen- 
tury hence.  "  Why  sir,1'  said  he,  "  here  is  a  canal  of  a  few  miles,  projected 
by  General  Washington,  which,  if  completed,  would  render  this  a  fine  com- 
mercial city,  which  has  languished  for  many  years  because  the  small  sum  of 
200,000  dollars  necessary  to  complete  it,  cannot  be  obtained  from  the  general 
government,  the  state  government,  or  from  individuals — and  you  talk  of  making 
a  canal  of 350  miles  through  the  wilderness — it  is  little  short  of  madness  to  think 
of  it  at  this  day."  I  replied,  that  having  conceived  the  idea,  ascertained  its  prac- 
ticability, and  in  some  measure  appreciated  its  importance,  I  thought  the  state 
of  New-York  would  never  rest  until  it  was  accomplished.  Having  frequently 
mentioned  this  anecdote,  it  came  to  the  ears  of  Governor  Clinton,  who,  when 
the  canal  was  nearly  accomplished,  wrote  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  as  I  have  under- 
stood from  him,  inquiring  if  he  recollected  the  conversation,  to  which  he  re- 
plied, that  he  did  not  recollect  the  name  of  the  person  who  first  informed  him 
of  the  project,  but  recollected  that  on  first  hearing  of  it,  he  had  remarked 
that  it  was  a  century  too  soon,  but  was  then  convinced  he  was  a  century  be- 


*  Letter  from  J\lr.  Jefferson  to  Governor  Clinton. 

Monticello,  Dec.  12,  1822. 

I  thank  you,  dear  sir,  for  the  little  volume  [Letters  of  Hibernicus]  sent  me  on  the  natural 
history  and  resources  of  New-York.  It  is  an  instructive,  interesting,  and  agreeably  writ- 
ten account  of  the  riches  of  a  country  to  which  your  great  canal  gives  value  and  is6ue,  and 
of  the  wealth  which  it  creates,  from  what  without  it  would  have  had  no  value.    Although  I 


348 


APPENDIX. 


hind  a  just  estimate  of  the  march  of  improvement  in  this  country.*  The 
story  has  found  its  way  into  the  newspapers  without  mention  of  my  name ; 
but  as  the  whole  proceeding  had  been  without  any  newspaper  remarks,  and 
the  discoveries  of  Judge  Geddes  so  recent,  there  cannot  remain  a  doubt  that 
the  communication  made  by  me  was  the  first  he  had  heard  on  the  subject, 
and  I  think  he  was  not  a  little  surprised  so  soon  to  have  such  a  claim  made  on 
his  proposed  fund  for  internal  improvement.  Although  I  have  not  conversed 
with  Mr.  Kirkpatrick  on  the  subject,  I  have  no  doubt  of  his  recollecting  the 
conversation,  and  I  confidently  appeal  to  him  for  the  correctness  of  the  state- 
ment. 

The  report  of  Judge  Geddes  in  Canal  Documents,  Vol.  1.  p.  13  to  38,  prov- 
ing beyond  a  doubt  the  practicability  of  a  canal  on  the  interior  route,  and 
putting  at  rest  all  further  question  of  the  one  through  Lake  Ontario,  came  in 
during  the  session  of  1808 — 9,  and  rendered  the  project  of  such  a  canal  as 
a  feasible  one,  familiar  to  a  great  body  of  the  men  of  intelligence  in  the  state. 
The  board  of  commissioners,  appointed  under  General  Piatt's  resolution  of 
the  ensuing  session,  took  this  report  from  the  office  of  the  surveyor-general, 
and  with  it  in  their  hands  explored  the  route  there  designated,  and  satisfied 
with  his  examination,  never  caused  any  surveys  with  a  view  to  the  Ontario 
route — and  the  suneys  and  plans  at  the  Boyle  summit  and  Gerundegut  em- 


do  not  recollect  the  conversation  with  Judge  Forman,  referred  to  in  page  131,  I  have  no 
doubt  it  is  correct,  for  that  I  know  was  my  opinion  ;  and  many,  I  dare  say,  still  think  with 
me  that  New-York  has  anticipated,  by  a  full  century,  the  ordinary  progress  of  improve- 
ment. This  great  work  suggests  a  question,  both  curious  and  difficult,  as  to  the  compara- 
tive capability  of  nations  to  execute  great  enterprises.  It  is  not  from  greater  surplus  of 
produce,  after  supplying  their  own  wants,  for  in  this  New-York  is  not  beyond  some  other 
states;  is  it  from  other  sources  of  industry  additional  to  her  produce?  This  maybe; — or 
is  it  a  moral  superiority?  a  sounder  calculating  mind,  as  to  the  most  profitable  employment 
of  surplus,  by  improvement  of  capital,  instead  of  useless  consumption  ?  I  should  lean  to 
this  latter  hypothesis,  were  I  disposed  to  puzzle  myself  with  such  investigations ;  but  at  the 
age  of  80,  it  would  be  an  idle  labour,  which  I  leave  to  the  generation  which  is  to  see  and  feel 
its  effects,  and  add  therefore  only,  the  assurance  of  my  great  esteem  and  respect. 

THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 


APPENDIX. 


349 


bankment,  comparing  exactly  with  the  canal  as  now  executed,  establish  incon- 
testably  its  identity  as  the  first  stage  of  that  splendid  work  which  reflects  so 
much  credit  upon  the  state  and  nation.  Judge  then  my  surprise,  (when  after 
the  middle  section  was  completed,  all  opposition  having  ceased,  both  parties 
were  competing  which  should  gain  popularity  by  forwarding  the  canal  policy, 
and  a  scramble  had  commenced  for  the  credit  of  originating  the  measure,) 
to  see  it  stated  by  Ferris  Pell,  in  his  Review,  page  177,  that  a  resolution  intro- 
duced by  me  in  180S,  "  was  adopted  and  resulted  in  nothing."  He  then 
dates  the  origin  of  the  canal  from  Judge  Piatt's  resolution,  and  divides  the 
honour  between  him,  Governor  Clinton,  and  Thomas  Eddy,  as  the  suggestor 
of  the  measure. 

Some  time  after,  Colonel  Haines  professing  to  write  the  history  of  the 
canal,  gives  nearly  the  same  account  of  the  matter,  denying  that  any  thing 
was  done  under  the  resolution  of  1808.  Although  I  had  not  been  so  ambi- 
tious of  fame  as  to  enter  the  lists  in  the  general  scramble  with  Elkanah  Wat- 
son and  others,  I  was  not  satisfied  to  see  the  thing  falsely  stated,  and  called 
on  Col.  Haines  for  an  explanation.  He  told  me  he  had  been  so  informed  by 
the  surveyor-general  and  by  Thomas  Eddy,  who  had  furnished  him  the  article 
published  in  his  work.  On  my  way  home,  I  asked  the  surveyor-general  how 
he  could  tell  Colonel  Haines  that  nothing  had  been  done  under  my  resolution, 
when  he  must  remember  Geddes1  survey.  He  denied  telling  him  so,  but  said 
he  could  find  nothing  in  his  office  relating  to  it,  and  had  told  Colonel  Haines 
so,  and  that  he  did  not  know  what  had  become  of  Geddes'  Report.  I  then 
informed  him  that  the  commissioners  under  the  resolution  of  1810,  to  whom 
he  had  loaned  it,  had  left  it  on  their  travels,  where  it  would  have  been  irreco- 
verably lost,  had  not  the  person  who  found  it,  seeing  the  name  of  Judge  Geddes 
in  it,  sent  it  to  him,  where  it  had  remained  safe  for  several  years,  while  such 
a  disposition  had  been  manifested  to  cover  up  and  deny  the  whole  affair.  The 
report  was  soon  after  procured,  and  deposited  in  the  secretary's  office,  where 
the  original  resolution  required  it  to  be  placed,  and  in  the  end  is  published  in 
its  proper  place  among  the  Canal  Documents. 

I  should  have  been  satisfied,  so  far  as  I  am  concerned,  to  rest  the  decision 
of  the  question  to  posterity  on  the  face  of  the  Documents,  had  not  the  sur- 

42 


350 


APPENDIX. 


veyor-general,  in  a  letter  to  William  Darby,  published  in  Canal  Doc.  Vol.  I. 
p.  38,  (I  know  not  with  what  propriety,)  given  a  new  turn  to  the  investigation. 
He  states  a  question  that  had  arisen  in  relation  to  the  Erie  Canal — "  Who  is 
most  entitled  to  the  honour  of  it;"and  although  he  admits  most  conclusively, p.41, 
that  the  investigations  of  1808  settled  the  question — "  that  a  canal  from  Lake 
Erie  to  Hudson's  River  was  not  only  practicable,  but  practicable  with  uncom- 
mon facility,"  yet  as  he  awards  to  Gouverneur  Morris  the  credit  of  first  starting 
the  idea  of  a  direct  communication  by  water,  between  Lake  Erie  and  Hudson 
River,  to  him  in  a  conversation  in  1803,  which  he  considered  "  a  romantic 
thing,  characteristic  of  the  man,1'  and  related  it  as  such  to  Judge  Geddes  in 
1804.  He  (Judge  Geddes)  told  it  to  Jesse  Hawley,  and  he  published  some 
essays  in  the  newspapers,  and  then  states  that  I  brought  in  a  resolution  to 
survey  the  rivers,  streams,  and  waters  in  the  usual  route  of  communication 
between  the  Hudson  and  Lake  Erie — giving  an  impression  that  my  resolution 
had  grown  out  of  that  suggestion  of  Gouverneur  Morris,  and  by  suppressing 
the  terms  of  my  resolution  for  a  direct  canal,  and  substituting  the  words  of 
the  joint  committee,  deprives  it  of  its  importance,  and  causes  it  to  be  inferred 
that  his  and  Judge  Geddes1  preconceived  notions  led  them  to  look  for  the  interior 
route.  Now  I  do  most  solemnly  declare,  that  the  idea  of  a  direct  canal  was 
original  with  me,  whoever  else  had  thought  of  it  before — that  I  had  never 
heard  of  Gouverneur  Morris'  suggestions,  nor  of  Mr.  Hawley's  essays — that 
when  it  was  broached  to  Judge  Wright,  he  then,  and  has  always  since  said, 
it  was  entirely  new  to  him — that  when  it  came  into  the  house,  it  was  treated 
as  at  once  new  and  visionary — for  several  years  I  was  called  a  visionary  pro- 
jector, and  have  been  asked  hundreds  of  times  if  ever  I  expected  to  see  my 
canal  completed  ;  to  which  I  uniformly  answered,  that  I  did  as  surely  as  I  lived 
to  the  ordinary  age  of  man — that  it  might  take  ten  years  to  get  the  public 
mind  prepared  for  the  undertaking,  and  as  many  more  to  accomplish  it.  No 
man  suggested  to  me  that  I  was  building  upon  another's  foundation,  until  the 
spring  of  1810,  when  I  saw  it  suggested  in  a  newspaper,  that  the  idea  was  de- 
rived from  Hawley's  essays  in  the  Geneva  paper,  which  I  did  not  take,  and  not 
having  attracted  sufficient  notice  to  be  republished,  had  never  come  to  my 
knowledge.    I  have  since  seen  them  very  cursorily  in  a  file  of  that  paper  in 


Al'l'KNDIX. 


351 


the  hands  of  General  Granger,  when  he  was  a  senator,  and  think  Mr.  JIawley 
entitled  to  much  credit  for  his  efforts  to  call  public  attention  to  an  inland  na- 
vigation through  the  country  ;  but  whether  his  views  actually  amount  to  a 
direct  canal,  or  a  combination  of  canal  and  improved  river  navigation,  I  can- 
not recollect.  I  never  claimed  that  I  first  thought  of  such  a  plan,  nor  is  that 
the  question  in  issue  ;  but  I  do  claim  to  have  been  the  first  man  who,  having  con- 
ceived the  idea,  appreciated  its  importance,  and  set  about  carrying  it  into 
effect,  and  by  the  happy  expedient  of  turning  the  eyes  of  the  legislature  to 
the  general  government  for  its  accomplishment,  induced  them  to  take  the  first 
steps  in  a  project  too  gigantic  for  them  to  have  looked  at  for  a  moment  as  an 
object  to  be  accomplished  by  the  means  of  the  state.  Gouverneur  Morris 
had  travelled,  and  seen  canals  in  other  countries,  and  no  doubt  had  bright 
visions  of  the  future  improvements  of  this  country,  and  occasionally  astonish- 
ed his  friends  by  detailing  them  in  conversation  ;  but  it  was  nowise  probable 
that  he  viewed  them  as  works  to  be  accomplished  in  his  day,  or  as  a  patriot,  he 
would  have  proposed  the  subject  to  the  legislature.  The  surveyor-general 
thought  of  those  suggestions  only  to  relate  them  for  their  extravagance,  and 
Judge  Geddes,  a  member  of  the  legislature,  at  the  time  he  heard  them,  was 
not  so  impressed  by  them  as  to  offer  any  proposition  to  the  legislature  on  the 
subject.  His  suggestions,  therefore,  had  produced  no  action — they  had  lite- 
rally sunk  into  the  earth,  and  in  reality  had  no  more  effect  in  producing  the 
canal  than  the  ancient  poet's  song  of  the  Fortunate  Islands  beyond  the  At- 
lantic Ocean  had  in  producing  the  discovery  of  America ;  and  no  man  can 
now  point  out  the  person  who,  had  I  not  done  it,  would  have  at  once  conceived 
the  idea,  appreciated  its  importance,  and  had  the  moral  courage  to  meet  the 
ridicule  of  proposing  so  wild  a  measure  in  earnest.  It  might  have  lain  for 
years,  and  at  length  a  canal  been  made  to  Lake  Ontario,  towards  which  pub- 
lic attention  was  then  directed,  had  not  the  ice  been  broken  by  that  resolution, 
and  an  impetus  given  to  a  direct  canal  by  the  discoveries  made  under  it. 

I  have  ever  felt  that  justice  has  not  been  done  to  the  importance  of  that 
measure  by  those  who  have  written  on  the  subject,  which  I  can  only  account 
for  by  supposing  each  claimant  of  honour  thought  his  own  share  would  be  the 
greater  by  depreciating  that  of  others,  and  have  sat  still  in  the  confidence  that 


352 


APPENDIX. 


some  impartial  historian  would  discriminate  between  the  importance  of  think- 
ing of  a  thing  and  doing  it — between  taking  the  first  step  and  any  other  in  the 
same  course.  An  incident  evincive  of  this  spirit  occurred  at  the  canal  cele- 
bration. The  Rochester  committee  sent  me  an  invitation  to  attend  the 
celebration,  with  assurances  of  their  "  high  consideration1'  as  "  the  first  legis- 
lative projector  of  the  greatest  improvement  of  the  age."*  I  attended  the 
celebration  at  Rochester,  and  heard  from  the  orator,  in  the  presence  of  thou- 
sands, a  highly  honourable  notice  of  the  measure  introduced  by  me,  and  the 
important  results  growing  out  of  it.  You  may  appreciate  my  feelings  when, 
afterwards  reading  the  printed  oration,  I  found  that  paragraph  suppressed.  I 
have  never  inquired  by  whom  or  for  what  purpose  it  was  done. 

I  returned,  with  the  committees,  in  the  Rochester  boat  as  far  as  Weed's 
Basin,  and  from  thence  pushed  on,  by  land,  to  Syracuse,  to  aid  in  having  all 
things  in  readiness  for  their  reception.  There  I  found  the  Syracuse  committee 
had  depended  upon  me  as  president  of  the  village  to  address  the  governor  and 
committees  on  their  arrival.  It  occurred  to  me,  that,  as  the  over-zealous  ad- 
vocates of  Governor  Clinton  had  been  in  the  habit  of  attributing  to  him  the 
originating  as  well  as  the  execution  of  the  canal  project,  it  was  a  fair  occasion, 


*  Rochester,  October  19, 1819. 

Dear  Sir, 

It  having  been  mentioned  to  our  committee  of  arrangements  for  celebrating 
the  completion  of  the  Erie  Canal,  that  the  first  legislative  proceedings  ever  had,  in  relation 
to  this  great  work,  were  upon  a  resolution  offered  by  yourself  in  1808,  as  a  member  of 
assembly  from  the  county  of  Onondaga,  it  was  instantly  and  unanimously  resolved  to  invite 
you  to  participate  in  the  approaching  celebration,  as  a  guest  of  the  citizens  of  Rochester. 

In  transmitting  the  invitation  of  our  committee,  we  beg  leave  to  add  assurances  of  our 
high  consideration  and  esteem  for  the  first  legislative  projector  of  the  greatest  improvement 
of  the  age. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

VINCENT  MATHEWS,  Chairman. 
THURLOW  WEED,  Secretary. 

Joshua  Forman,  Esq. 

P.  S.  Our  celebration  is  ou  the  27th  inst.  The  favour  of  an  answer  is  respectfully 
requested. 


APPENDIX. 


353 


by  giving  him  credit  for  what  was  his  just  due  (and  great  indeed  it  was),  to 
furnish  him  an  opportunity  of  disclaiming  such  meretricious  honour.  There 
were  but  two  or  three  hours  to  spare,  in  which  I  drew  up  the  address  sub- 
joined, as  copied  from  the  Syracuse  Gazette,  Nov.  2d,  1825.*    Gov.  Clinton, 


*  Gentlemen, 

The  roar  of  cannon  rolling  from  Lake  Eric  to  the  ocean,  and  reverberated  from  the 
ocean  to  the  lake,  has  announced  the  completion  of  the  Erie  Canal ;  and  you  are  this  day 
witnesses,  bearing  the  waters  of  the  lakes  on  the  unbroken  bosom  of  the  canal  to  be  min- 
gled with  the  ocean,  that  the  splendid  hopes  of  our  state  are  realized.  The  continued  fete 
which  has  attended  your  boats,  evinces  how  dear  it  was  to  the  hearts  of  our  citizens.  It  is 
truly  a  proud  day  for  the  state  of  New-York.  No  one  is  present,  who  has  the  interest  of  the 
state  at  heart,  who  does  not  exult  at  the  completion  of  a  work  fraught  with  such  important 
benefits  ;  and  no  man,  with  an  American  heart,  that  does  not  swell  with  pride  that  he  is  a 
citizen  of  the  country  which  has  accomplished  the  greatest  work  of  the  age,  and  which  has 
filled  Europe  with  admiration  of  the  American  character.  On  the  4th  of  July,  1817,  it  was 
begun  and  is  now  accomplished — not  by  the  labour  of  abject  slaves  and  vassals,  but  by  the 
energies  of  freeman,  and  in  a  period  unprecedently  short — by  the  voluntary  efforts  of  its 
freemen,  governed  by  the  wisdom  of  its  statesmen.  This,  however,  is  one  of  the  many 
benefits  derived  from  our  free  institutions,  and  which  marks  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  man, 
the  example  of  a  nation  whose  whole  physical  power  and  intelligence  are  employed  to  ad- 
vance the  improvement,  comfort,  and  happiness  of  the  people.  To  what  extent  this  course 
of  improvement  may  be  carried,  it  is  impossible  for  any  mere  man  to  conjecture  ;  but  no 
reasonable  man  can  doubt,  that  it  will  continue  its  progress,  until  our  wide  and  fertile  terri- 
tory shall  be  filled  with  a  more  dense,  intelligent,  and  happy  people,  than  the  sun  shines  upon 
in  the  wide  circuit  of  the  globe.  It  has  long  been  a  subject  of  fearful  apprehension  to  the 
patriot  of  the  Atlantic  states,  that  the  remote  interior  situation  of  our  western  territory  (for 
want  of  proper  stimuli  to  industry  and  free  intercourse  with  the  rest  of  the  world)  would  be 
filled  with  a  semi-barbarous  population,  uncongenial  with  their  Atlantic  neighbours  ;  but 
the  introduction  of  steamboats  on  our  lakes,  and  running  rivers  and  canals  to  connect  waters 
which  nature  has  disjoined,  (in  both  which  this  state  has  taken  the  lead,  and  its  example  has 
now  become  general,)  have  broken  down  the  old  barriers  of  nature,  and  promise  the  wide 
spread  regions  of  the  west  all  the  blessings  of  a  seaboard  district.  But  while  we  contem- 
plate the  advantages  of  this  work,  as  a  source  of  revenue  to  the  state  and  of  wealth  and 
comfort  to  our  citizens,  let  us  never  forget  the  means  by  which  it  has  been  accomplished  ; 
and  after  rendering  thanks  to  the  All-wise  Disposer  of  events,  who  has,  by  his  own  means 


354 


APPENDIX. 


in  his  reply,  which  was  short,  adverted  to  the  important  views  presented  in 
the  address,  and  with  great  candour  observed,  they  "  were  such  as  he  had  ex- 
pected from  an  individual  who  had  introduced  the  first  legislative  measure 
relative  to  the  canal,  and  who  had  devoted  much  thought  and  reflection  to  the 
subject.'"  And  walking  from  the  boat  to  the  hotel,  Gen.  Tallmadge  being  on 
my  left  and  Gov.  Clinton  on  my  right,  he  remarked,  that  I  had  been  very  happy 


and  for  his  own  purposes,  brought  about  this  great  work,  we  would  render  our  thanks  to  all 
citizens  and  statesmen  who  have,  in  and  out  of  the  legislature,  sustained  the  measure  from 
its  first  conception  to  its  present  final  consummation.  To  the  commissioners  who  superin- 
tended the  work,  the  board  of  engineers  (a  native  treasure  unknown  till  called  for  by  the 
occasion),  and  especially  to  his  excellency  the  governor,  whose  early  and  decided  support  of 
the  measure,  and  fearlessly  throwing  his  character  and  influence  into  the  scale,  turned  the 
poising  beam,  and  produced  the  first  canal  appropriation, — keeping  the  public  opinion  steady 
to  the  point.  Without  his  efforts  in  that  crisis,  the  canal  project  might  still  have  been  a 
splendid  vision, — gazed  on  by  the  benevolent  patriot, — but  left,  by  cold  calculators,  to  be 
realized  by  some  future  generation.  At  that  time  all  admitted,  that  there  was  a  high  respon- 
sibility resting  on  you  ;  and,  had  it  failed,  you  must  have  largely  borne  the  blame.  It  has 
succeeded  !  and  we  will  not  withhold  from  you  your  due  meed  of  praise. 

Gentlemen,  in  behalf  of  the  citizens  of  Syracuse  and  of  the  county  of  Onondaga  here 
assembled,  I  congratulate  you  on  this  occasion.  Our  village  is  the  offspring  of  the  canal, 
and,  with  the  county,  must  partake  largely  of  its  blessings.  We  were  most  ungrateful,  if 
we  did  not  most  cordially  join  in  this  great  state  celebration. 

Judge  Forman  having  concluded  his  address,  Governor  Clinton  replied  in  a  very  happy 
and  appropriate  manner.  In  the  course  of  which  he  adverted  to  the  important  views  pre- 
sented in  the  address,  and  observed,  that  they  were  such  as  •lie  had  expected  from  an  indivi- 
dual who  introduced  the  first  legislative  measures,  relative  to  the  canals,  and  had  devoted 
much  thought  and  reflection  to  the  subject.  His  excellency  also  adverted  to  the  prosperous 
condition  of  Syracuse  and  of  the  county,  and  concluded  by  expressing  his  congratulations 
on  the  final  accomplishment  of  this  great  work. 

N.  B.  The  above  address  was  printed  in  my  absence  from  the  hasty  draft,  and  has  many  errors  and 
omissions,  which  the  reader  will  readily  supply.  In  one  instance,  before  the  words  "  keeping  the 
public  opinion,"  &c.  a  whole  line  is  omitted, — "  by  his  talents  and  exertions"  keeping  the  public  opinion 
steadily  to  the  point. — J.  F. 


APPENDIX. 


355 


in  the  address,  and  that  he  was  gratified  with  the  discrimination  I  had  made  ; 
which  expressions  were  distinctly  recollected  by  the  general,  in  a  late  conver- 
sation with  him  on  the  subject. 

As  one  of  a  committee  from  Syracuse,  I  attended  the  fete  to  the  mingling 
of  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie  with  the  ocean  ofT  Sandy  Hook  ;  and  from  that 
day  to  the  receipt  of  your  letter,  have  been  attending  to  my  own  concerns, 
satisfied  with  having,  in  any  degree,  contributed  to  so  great  a  public  benefit — 
and  trusting  that  an  impartial  posterity  would  render  to  each  person  concerned 
his  just  meed  of  praise.  Nor  should  I  have  deemed  it  at  all  important  to  have 
detailed  these  facts,  occurring  since  the  contest  for  fame  began,  had  not  the 
singular  circumstance  occurred,  that  the  origin  of  a  great  public  work,  but  just 
completed,  should  so  soon  be  involved  in  obscurity,  and  the  facts,  relating  to 
its  incipient  stages,  confidently  denied,  so  that  thousands  who  are  experiencing 
the  benefits  of  the  canal,  are  in  doubt  to  whom  they  are  indebted  for  the  boon, 
instead  of  possessing  such  a  clear  statement  of  the  case  as  would  enable  them 
justly  to  appreciate  the  share  each  person  took  in  it,  from  its  conception  to  its 
final  consummation. 

I  submit  these  facts  and  remarks,  hastily  thrown  together,  to  your  discretion, 
to  make  such  use  of  them  as  you  shall  think  proper. 

I  remain,  with  respect, 

Your  most  obedient  servant, 

JOSHUA  FORM  AN. 

To  David  Hosack,  M.  D. 


It  has  been  incorrectly  stated  by  Mr.  Haines,*  that  nothing  had  been  done 
as  the  result  of  the  foregoing  resolution  introduced  by  Mr.  Forman.  On  the 
contrary,  it  appears  that,  in  conformity  to  the  resolutions  referred  to  of  the 
senate  and  assembly,!  that  the  surveyor  general  immediately  employed  Mr. 


*  See  Introduction  to  his  Public  Documents,  xlix. 
t  Canal  Documents,  Vol.  I.  p.  9  and  10. 


356 


APPENDIX. 


James  Geddes,  of  Onondaga  county,  to  make  the  necessary  surveys,  and 
opened  a  correspondence  with  Mr.  Joseph  Ellicott,  of  Batavia,  an  agent  of 
the  Holland  Land  Company.  By  information  derived  from  those  gentlemen, 
both  "  practical  surveyors,  of  experienced  skill,  of  investigating  minds,  of 
sagacious  observation,  and  perfectly  well  acquainted  with  the  country,"  the 
fact  was  satisfactorily  established,  that,  in  the  language  of  the  surveyor  gene- 
ral, "  a  canal  from  Lake  Erie  to  Hudson  River  was  not  only  practicable,  but 
practicable  with  uncommon  facility."* 

In  January,  1809,  Mr.  Geddes  made  his  luminous  report  in  favour  of  the 
practicability  of  a  route  directly  from  Lake  Erie,  addressed  to  the  surveyor 
general,  by  whom  it  was  communicated  to  the  legislature.! 

Mr.  Ellicott's  communication,  says  Tacitus,  also  contained  a  perspicuous 
description  of  the  country,  and  was  accompanied  by  an  explanatory  map.  All 
which  papers,  it  is  added,  with  the  writings  of  Mr.  Hawley,  were  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  canal  commissioners,  appointed  in  1810  ;  and,  unquestionably, 
the  idea  adopted  by  that  board,  of  the  Erie  canal,  originated  from  these  inves- 
tigations, fortified  by  the  observations  under  their  direction. 

Tacitus  proceeds  to  remark, — "  No  further  view,  however,  was  taken  on 
this  subject  until  the  session  of  1810  ;  when,  in  consequence  of  representations 
from  the  Western  Inland  Lock  Navigation  Company,  and  from  a  great  num- 
ber of  citizens  of  Albany,  Schenectady,  Utica,  and  other  places,  interested  in 
the  internal  trade  of  this  state,  commissioners  were  appointed,  to  explore  the 
country  between  the  great  lakes  and  the  navigable  waters  of  the  Hudson,  and 
to  report  upon  the  most  eligible  route  for  a  water  communication.  It  was 
suggested  by  those  representations,  as  a  point  deserving  of  particular  attention, 
that  the  commerce  of  the  country  was  directed,  in  a  great  degree,  to  Canada. 
The  report  of  Mr.  Gallatin  in  favour  of  canals  and  roads  had  awakened  the 
public  attention  to  that  important  object ;  and  the  proceedings  referred  toj  took 
place  in  the  legislature,  on  the  motion  of  the  Hon.  Jonas  Piatt,  then  a  senator, 
now  a  judge  of  the  supreme  court — a  gentleman  equally  distinguished  for 
strength  of  understanding  and  purity  of  heart." 


f  Ibid.  p.  13. 


t  Ibid. 


APPENDIX. 


357 


But  it  ought  to  be  added,  that  about  the  same  period  of  time,  (probably  in 
consequence  of  the  suggestions  referred  to  in  the  message  of  Mr.  Jefferson,) 
besides  the  labours  of  Mr.  Hawley  and  of  Mr.  Forman  in  this  state,  a  general 
spirit  was  awakened,  and  diffused  throughout  our  country,  relative  to  internal 
improvements,  and  the  means  of  opening  an  advantageous  intercourse  by 
roads  and  canals,  between  the  most  distant  parts  of  the  United  States  ;  not 
only  for  the  purpose  of  strengthening  the  Union,  but  of  promoting  our  inde- 
pendence of  foreign  nations,  by  calling  forth  the  native  riches  and  resources 
of  our  country.  To  this  spirit,  doubtless,  is  to  be  ascribed  the  valuable  report 
of  Mr.  Gallatin  ;  the  bill  introduced  into  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  by 
Mr.  Pope,  a  member  from  Kentucky ;  and  the  resolution  afterwards  moved  in 
the  House  of  Representatives  by  Mr.  P.  B.  Porter,  then  a  member  of  congress 
from  this  state ;  and  the  writings  of  the  late  Dr.  Hugh  Williamson,  all  which 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  legislature  of  New- York,  and  prepared  the  pub- 
lic mind  for  the  measures  which  subsequently  ensued. 

The  report  of  Mr.  Gallatin,  which  was  presented  to  Congress  in  April,  1808, 
with  its  appendix,  containing  the  communications  of  Messrs.  Latrobe  and 
Fulton  relative  to  canal  navigation,  (although  that  part  of  it  which  concerns  the 
state  of  New- York,  recommended  the  route  to  the  west  by  canals  and  locks 
to  Lake  Ontario,  and  around  the  falls  of  Niagara,)  was  eminently  service- 
able. 

It  is  due  to  Mr.  Pope,  to  observe,  that  early  in  1810,  some  weeks  prior  to  the 
celebrated  speech  delivered  by  Mr.  Porter  in  the  House  of  Representatives, 
he  introduced  a  bill  into  the  Senate,  for  the  improvement  of  our  nation,  by  faci- 
litating intercourse  between  its  different  parts.  That  bill  contemplated  the 
union  of  the  waters  of  Boston  harbour  with  those  of  Newport,  in  Rhode 
Island — of  the  Raritan  in  New-Jersey  with  the  Delaware — of  the  Hudson 
with  the  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario — of  the  Delaware  with  the  Chesapeake — a 
canal  to  pass  the  cataract  of  Niagara — the  union  of  the  Hudson  with  Lake 
Champlain — the  Ohio  with  Lake  Erie — a  canal  to  pass  the  falls  of  the  Ohio, 
and  from  the  Roanoke  to  the  Appamatox,  and  from  the  Tennesee  to  the  Tom- 
bigbee — a  road  from  the  highest  navigable  waters  of  the  western  states — and 
a  turnpike  road  for  the  general  mail  from  Maine  to  and  through  Georgia. 

43 


358 


APPENDIX. 


For  the  above  purpose  a  tract  of  land  in  the  peninsula  of  Michigan  was 
contemplated  to  be  appropriated,  containing  perhaps  ten  millions  of  acres. 

Mr.  Pope's  bill  in  the  Senate  not  having  been  acted  upon  by  that  bod)',  Mr. 
Porter,  on  the  8th  of  February,  1810,  presented  to  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives the  following  resolution. 

"  Resolved — That  a  committee  be  appointed  to  examine  into  the  expedi- 
ency of  appropriating  a  part  of  the  public  lands,  or  the  proceeds  thereof,  to 
the  purposes  of  opening  and  constructing  such  roads  and  canals,  as  may  be 
most  conducive  to  the  general  interest  of  the  Union,  and  that  they  have  leave 
to  report  thereon  by  bill  or  otherwise." 

Mr.  Porter  introduced  tins-resolution  with  an  able  and  elaborate  speech,  in 
which  he  took  a  comprehensive  view  of  the  subject,  and  went  into  details, 
showing  the  feasibility  of  the  plan,  the  benefits  which  would  result  from  it  to 
the  country,  and  the  readiness  with  which  funds  might  be  raised  to  carry  it 
into  effect.  Mr.  Porter  displayed  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  geographical 
relations,  local  habits,  and  natural  interests  of  the  interior.  In  this  speech, 
says  the  writer  of  the  Supplement  to  Colonel  Troup's  letter  to  Brockholst 
Livingston,  he  took  an  expanded  view  of  the  great  subject  to  which  his  reso- 
lution referred, pointed  out  the  benefits  which  would  result  from  the  construction 
of  roads  and  canals  under  the  direction  of  the  general  government,  and  parti- 
cularly enlarged  upon  the  advantage  and  necessity  of  a  navigable  communi- 
cation from  the  Hudson  to  Lake  Erie.  The  resolution  was  adopted,  and  a 
committee  of  twenty  appointed,  of  which  General  Porter  was  the  chairman. 
The  committee,  on  the  23d  February,  1810,  reported  a  bill  "  for  the  improve- 
ment of  the  United  States  by  roads  and  canals,"  which  provided  among  other 
improvements,  for  "  opening  canals  from  the  Hudson  to  Lake  Ontario,  and 
around  the  Falls  of  Niagara." 

Doubts  being  entertained  by  some  of  the  members  as  to  the  powers  of  con- 
gress to  authorise  the  construction  of  roads  and  canals,  and  differences  of 
opinion  existing  among  others  respecting  the  details  of  the  bill,  the  enter- 
prising and  patriotic  efforts  of  General  Porter  proved  unsuccessful.  They 
nevertheless  made  a  strong  impression  upon  the  people  of  this  state,  and  had 


APPENDIX. 


359 


no  small  share  in  exciting  the  attention  of  the  New-York  legislature,  then  in 
session,  to  this  subject. 

Although  the  speech  of  Mr.  Porter  attracted  much  notice  at  the  time  it  was 
delivered,  and  was  published  in  the  journals  of  the  day,  as  it  contains  much 
valuable  matter  still  applicable  to  the  general  interests  of  the  Union,  it  merits 
a  place  in  these  documents,  and  is  accordingly  subjoined. 

Speech  of  the  Hon.  P.  B.  Porter  on  Internal  Improvements,  delivered  in  the  House  of 
Representatives  on  the  8th  February,  1810. 

I  have  risen,  sir,  for  the  purpose  of  asking  the  attention  of  the  house  to  a  subject,  than 
which,  I  may  confidently  say,  there  is  no  one  that  regards  our  domestic  policy,  more  impor- 
tant, or  which  more  loudly  calls  for  the  interposition  of  the  national  legislature. 

The  subject  to  which  I  allude,  is  the  internal  improvement  of  the  United  States  by  roads 
and  canals  ;  and  1  intend,  before  I  sit  down,  to  offer  a  resolution,  the  object  of  which  will  be 
to  ascertain  the  sense  of  the  house  in  relation  to  the  expediency  of  appropriating  a  part  of 
the  public  lands  to  such  improvements. 

I  am  not  in  the  habit  of  trespassing  upon  the  patience  of  the  house,  and  I  am  sure  no 
apology  will  be  required  for  the  time  I  may  occupy  in  presenting  such  general  views  of  this 
subject  as  the  importance  of  it  seems,  in  my  opinion,  to  demand.  I  know  that  the  time  of 
the  house  is  precious.  I  am  aware  that  there  are  many  matters  connected  with  our  foreign 
relations  that  have  strong  claims  to  its  attention  ;  but  they  surely  ought  not  to  exclude  every 
other  subject  of  legislation.  I  have  the  honour  to  represent  a  portion  of  the  country  which 
is  perhaps  as  little  affected  by  our  exterior  commercial  relations  as  any  part  of  the  United 
States;  and  yet  I  listen,  with  great  attention  and  interest,  to  the  various  plans  and  proposi- 
tions which  are  daily  submitted  and  discussed  in  this  house,  and  with  which,  indeed,  its  time 
is  almost  exclusively  occupied,  for  the  protection  and  security  of  commerce  ;  and  I  trust  that 
I  shall  show  by  my  vote,  on  every  proper  occasion,  that  I  consider  my  constituents  as  bound 
to  support  with  their  persons  and  their  property,  and  to  the  last  extremity,  the  just  rights 
of  the  merchants  of  this  country.  On  the  other  hand,  I  have  a  right  to  expect  that  the 
gentlemen  who  represent  the  mercantile  interest  will  not  only  hear  with  patience  the  propo- 
sition I  am  about  to  submit,  but  that  they  will  thank  me  for  the  fair  opportunity  I  intend  to 
afford  them  of  proving  the  sincerity  of  those  professions  which  we  hear  so  often  and  so 
loudly  made  on  this  floor,  in  favour  of  the  agricultural  interest.  The  gentlemen  tell  us  that 
commerce  is  only  the  handmaid  of  agriculture;  and  that  their  zeal  to  protect  commerce 


360 


APPENDIX. 


arises  merely  from  a  desire  to  promote,  through  its  instrumentality,  the  great  interests  of 
agriculture.  I  shall  not  question  the  sincerity  of  these  declarations,  nor  the  correctness 
of  the  principle  they  assert ;  but  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  the  gentlemen  will  be  as  willing  to 
give  a  direct  encouragement  to  agriculture,  as  to  do  it  indirectly  through  the  medium  of 
commerce. 

It  will  be  recollected  that  a  bill  was  some  days  ago  laid  on  your  table,  from  the  senate 
embracing  the  subject  of  roads  and  canals.  What  course  this  bill  has  already  taken,  or  what 
may  be  its  ultimate  fate  in  that  house,  were  it  possible  for  me  to  conjecture,  it  would  be 
improper  for  me  to  state  in  this  place,  especially  in  the  present  state  of  my  feelings  on  that 
subject.  I  mention  this  bill  only  because  I  had  some  little  share  in  producing  it  in  the  form 
in  which  it  appears  on  your  tables,  and  in  which  it  originally  appeared  in  the  senate  ;  and 
because  it  therefore  shows  my  ideas  of  a  practical  mode  of  carrying  the  objects  of  the  reso- 
lution into  effect.  And  I  must  beg  the  house  to  bear  in  mind  the  provisions  of  that  bill  in 
weighing  the  observations  which  I  am  about  to  offer,  should  these  observations  be  so  for- 
tunate as  to  gain  the  ear  of  the  house. 

It  is  possible  that  some  of  the  views  which  I  am  about  to  take  of  this  subject,  may  be 
considered  as  too  extravagant  and  remote,  and  that  they  may  at  first  even  wear  the  appear- 
ance of  affectation.  I  hope,  however,  it  will  be  recollected  that  the  subject  is  in  itself  of 
vast  magnitude  and  extent ;  and  that  in  order  to  speak  of  it  with  any  degree  of  justice,  it 
will  be  necessary  to  consider  it  in  reference  to  the  great  and  correspondent  effects  which  it 
is  calculated  to  produce.  And  permit  me,  in  the  first  place,  to  say,  sir,  that  some  great  sys- 
tem of  internal  navigation,  such  as  is  contemplated  in  the  bill  introduced  into  the  Senate, 
is  not  only  an  object  of  the  first  consequence  to  the  future  prosperity  of  this  country,  con- 
sidered as  a  measure  of  political  economy,  but  as  a  measure  of  state  policy,  it  is  indispen- 
sable to  the  preservation  of  the  integrity  of  this  government. 

The  United  States  have  for  twenty  years  past  been  favoured  in  their  external  commerce, 
in  a  manner  unequalled  perhaps  in  the  history  of  the  world.  Our  citizens  have  not  only 
grown  rich,  but  they  have  gone  almost  mad  in  pursuit  of  this  commerce.  Such  have  been 
its  temptations,  as  to  engage  in  it  almost  the  whole  of  the  floating  capital  of  the  country, 
and  a  great  part  of  its  enterprise ;  and  every  other  occupation  has  been  considered  as  secon- 
dary and  subordinate.  This  extraordinary  success  of  commerce  has  been  owing  partly  to 
our  local  situation,  partly  to  the  native  enterprise  of  our  citizens,  but  primarily  to  the  un- 
paralleled succession  of  events  in  Europe.  The  course  of  these  events,  before  so  propitious 
to  our  interests,  has  of  late  very  materially  changed,  and  with  it  has  changed  the  tide  of 
our  commercial  prosperity.  I  am  far,  however,  from  believing  that  this  sudden  reverse  may 
not  eventually  prove  fortunate  for  the  true  interests  of  the  United  States.  The  embarrass- 
ments which  the  belligerents  have  thrown  in  the  way  of  our  external  commerce,  have  turned 


APPENDIX. 


301 


the  attention  of  thepeople  of  this  country  to  their  own  internal  resources.  And  in  viewing 
these  resources,  we  perceive  with  pride,  that  there  is  no  country  on  earth,  which  in  the  fer- 
tility of  its  soil,  the  extent  and  variety  of  its  climate  and  productions,  afTords  the  means  of 
national  wealth  and  greatness  in  the  measure  they  are  enjoyed  hy  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  If  these  means  are  properly  fostered  and  encouraged  by  a  liberal  and  enlightened 
policy,  we  shall  soon  be  able  not  only  to  defend  our  independence  at  home,  (which,  how- 
ever, I  confidently  trust,  we  have  now  both  the  ability  and  the  disposition  to  do,  notwith- 
standing the  fears  that  are  attempted  to  be  excited  on  this  subject,)  but  we  shall  be  able  to 
protect  our  foreign  commerce  against  the  united  power  of  the  world.  One  great  object  of 
the  system  I  am  about  to  propose,  is  to  unlock  these  internal  resources,  to  enable  the  citi- 
zen of  one  part  of  the  United  States  to  exchange  his  products  for  those  of  another,  and  to 
open  a  great  internal  commerce,  which  is  acknowledged  by  all  who  profess  any  skill  in  the 
science  of  political  economy,  to  be  much  more  profitable  and  advantageous  than  the  most 
favoured  external  commerce  which  we  could  enjoy.  The  system,  however,  lias  another 
object  in  view  not  less  important. 

The  people  of  the  United  States  are  divided  by  a  geographical  line  into  two  great  and 
distinct  sections — the  people  who  live  along  the  Atlantic  on  the  east  side  of  the  Alleghany 
mountains,  and  who  compose  the  three  great  classes  of  merchants,  manufacturers,  and  agri- 
culturists ;  and  those  who  occupy  the  west  side  of  these  mountains,  who  are  exclusively 
agriculturists.  This  diversity  arid  supposed  contrariety  of  interest  and  pursuit  between 
the  people  of  these  two  great  divisions  of  country,  and  the  difference  of  character  to  which 
these  occupations  give  rise,  it  has  been  confidently  asserted,  and  is  still  believed  by  many, 
will  lead  to  the  separation  of  the  United  States  at  no  very  distant  day.  In  my  humble 
opinion,  sir,  tiiis  very  diversity  of  interest  will,  if  skilfully  managed,  be  the  means  of  pro- 
ducing a  closer  and  more  intimate  union  of  the  states.  It  will  be  obviously  for  the  interests 
of  the  interior  states,  to  exchange  the  great  surplus  products  of  their  lands,  and  the  raw 
materials  of  manufactures,  for  the  merchandize  and  manufactured  articles  of  the  eastern 
states  ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  the  interests  of  the  merchants  and  manufacturers  of  the  At- 
lantic will  be  equally  promoted  by  this  internal  commerce  ;  and  it  is  by  promoting  this  com- 
merce, by  encouraging  and  facilitating  this  intercourse — it  is  by  producing  a  mutut'l  depen- 
dence of  interests  between  these  two  great  sections,  and  by  these  means  only,  that  the 
United  States  can  ever  be  kept  together. 

•  The  great  evil,  and  it  is  a  serious  one  indeed,  sir,  under  which  the  inhabitants  of  the 
western  country  labour,  arises  from  the  want  of  a  market.  There  is  no  place  where 
the  great  staple  articles  for  the  use  of  civilized  life  can  be  produced  in  greater  abun- 
dance or  with  greater  ease  ;  and  yet  as  respects  most  of  the  luxuries  and  many  of  the 
conveniences  of  life,  the  people  are  poor.  They  have  no  vent  for  their  produce  at  home ; 
because,  being  all  agriculturists,  they  produce  alike  the  same  articles  with  the  same 


362 


APPENDIX. 


facility ;  and  such  is  the  present  difficulty  and  expense  of  transporting  their  produce  to  an 
Atlantic  port,  that  little  benefits  are  realized  from  that  quarter.  The  single  circumstance, 
of  the  want  of  a  market,  is  already  beginning  to  produce  the  most  disastrous  effects,  not 
only  on  the  industry,  but  upon  the  morals  of  the  inhabitants.  Such  is  the  fertility  of  their 
lands,  that  one  half  of  their  time  spent  in  labour,  is  sufficient  to  produce  every  article  which 
their  farms  are  capable  of  yielding,  in  sufficient  quantities  for  their  own  consumption,  and 
there  is  nothing  to  incite  them  to  produce  more.  They  are,  therefore,  naturally  led  to 
spend  the  other  part  of  their  time  in  idleness  and  dissipation.  Their  increase  in  numbers, 
and  the  ease  with  which  children  are  brought  up  and  fed,  far  from  encouraging  them  to  be- 
come manufacturers  for  themselves,  puts  at  a  great  distance  the  time,  when,  quitting  the 
freedom  and  independence  of  masters  of  the  soil,  they  will  submit  to  the  labour  and  confine- 
ment of  manufacturers.  This,  sir,  is  the  true  situation  of  the  western  agriculturist.  It 
becomes  then  an  object  of  national  importance,  far  outweighing  almost  every  other  that  can 
occupy  the  attention  of  this  house,  to  inquire  whether  the  evils  incident  to  this  state  of  things, 
may  not  be  removed  by  opening  a  great  navigable  canal  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  western 
states;  and  thus  promoting  the  natural  connexion  and  intercourse  between  the  farmer  and 
the  merchant,  so  highly  conducive  to  the  interests  of  both.  This  brings  me  more  immediately 
to  the  object  of  the  resolution  which  I  shall  have  the  honour  to  submit.  And  I  must  beg  the 
indulgence  of  the  house  while  I  attempt  to  show,  by  a  geographical  detail,  not  only  the  im- 
portance but  the  practicability  of  such  a  navigation. 

The  great  ranges  of  mountains  continued  from  the  circular  mountain  in  Georgia  on  the 
south,  to  the  Mohawk  River  in  the  state  of  New-York,  on  the  north,  intercept  and  destroy 
the  navigation  of  all  the  rivers  which  discharge  into  the  Atlantic  and  approach  the  western 
country.  But  when  you  have  passed  these  mountains  from  the  Atlantic,  that  country  opens 
a  scene  of  natural  internal  navigation  unequalled  in  the  world.  The  face  of  the  country  is 
so  uniformly  level,  as  to  make  almost  every  small  stream,  by  which  it  is  intersected,  naviga- 
ble for  boats  of  considerable  size.  The  chain  of  western  lakes,  extending  from  the  north- 
eastern extremity  of  Lake  Ontario  to  the  south-western  termination  of  Lake  Michigan, 
affords  now  an  excellent  navigation  for  vessels  drawing  ten  feet  of  water,  of  fourteen  hundred 
miles  in  extent ;  uninterrupted,  except  by  the  falls  and  rapids  of  Niagara,  a  distance  of  only 
eight  miles.  To  the  south  and  west  of  these  lakes,  the  waters  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi 
approach  within  short  distances  of,  and  are  interlocked  by  the  waters  of  the  lakes.  The 
lands  along  these  dividing  waters  are  generally  level ;  and  the  rivers  are  navigable  and 
might  be  connected  by  short  canals  at  little  expense.  I  will  mention  some  of  the  principal 
points  at  which  these  connexions  might  be  formed. 

On  the  south  western  part  of  Lake  Erie,  in  the  state  of  New-York,  there  is  a  portage  of 
eight  miles  from  that  lake  to  a  small  lake  called  the  Chatauqua.  The  Chatauqua  is  the  reser- 
voir or  source  of  one  of  the  branches  of  the  Alleghany  River,  and  this  stream  is  navigable 


APPENDIX. 


363 


from  the  lake  to  Pittsburgh,  on  the  Ohio,  for  boats  of  thirty  tons  burthen.  The  waters  of 
the  Chatauqua  arc  higher  than  those  of  Lake  Eric,  to  which  there  is  a  gradual  and  regular 
descent  of  land  ;  and  a  canal  might  be  opened  between  them  at  a  very  moderate  expense. 

On  the  south  side  of  Lake  Erie,  in  the  state  of  Pennsylvania,  there  is  another  portage  of 
fifteen  miles  over  an  artificial  road,  from  Prcsque  Isle  to  French  Creek,  another  branch  of 
the  Alleghany,  and  which  is  also  navigable  for  boats  carrying  200  barrels,  to  Pittsburgh. 
Over  these  two  portages  were  sent,  during  the  last  summer,  more  than  100,000  bushels  of 
salt,  manufactured  in  the  interior  of  the  state  of  New- York,  and  transported  through  Lakes 
Ontario  and  Erie,  across  these  portages  and  down  to  Pittsburgh,  for  the  use  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  Ohio  and  its  tributary  streams.  This  salt  trade  was  commenced  about  seven  years 
ago,  and  has  been  increasing  ever  since  at  the  rate  of  twenty- five  per  cent,  a  year.  And  if 
the  great  line  of  navigation,  to  which  I  shall  presently  call  the  attention  of  the  house,  were 
opened,  the  people  of  the  Ohio,  and  its  various  waters,  would  be  supplied  with  that  great 
and  necessary  article  of  life,  fifty  per  cent,  cheaper  than  it  now  costs  them. 

About  one  hundred  miles  to  the  west  of  Presque  Isle,  in  the  state  of  Ohio,  the  river 
Cuyahoga  opens  a  good  boat  navigation  from  Lake  Erie  to  within  six  or  eight  miles  of  the 
navigable  waters  of  the  Muskingum;  and  I  understand  that  a  communication  is  about  to  be 
opened  between  them,  either  by  means  of  a  canal,  or  an  artificial  road,  under  the  patronage 
of  the  legislature  of  that  state. 

About  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  still  further  to  the  west,  in  the  territories  of  Michigan 
and  Indiana,  other  communications  may  be  formed  between  the  waters  of  the  Miami  of 
Lake  Erie,  and  the  Wabash  and  Miami  of  the  Ohio. 

At  the  south-western  extremity  of  Lake  Michigan,  the  most  inconsiderable  expense  would 
open  a  canal  between  the  waters  of  that  lake  and  the  Illinois  River,  one  of  the  principal 
branches  of  the  Mississippi.  Nature  has  already  made  this  connexion  nearly  complete;  and 
it  is  not  uncommon  for  boats  in  the  spring  of  the  year,  to  pass  from  the  lake  into  the  Illinois, 
and  from  thence  by  the  waters  of  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi  to  New  Orleans,  without  being 
taken  out  of  the  water. 

Farther  to  the  north,  a  connexion  might  be  formed  with  nearly  the  same  facility  between 
the  waters  of  the  Fox  River  which  discharges  into  Green  Bay,  and  the  Ouisconsing,  another 
branch  of  the  Mississippi ;  and  the  lands  adjacent  to  these  rivers,  are  said  to  be  uncommonly 
rich  and  fertile. 

From  this  view  of  the  western  country  and  the  great  extent  of  its  natural  and  internal 
navigation,  we  perceive  the  advantages  to  be  derived  by  opening  it  to  the  Atlantic  by  a  great 
canal;  and  we  discover  also,  at  the  same  time,  that  it  is  not  very  important  to  the  inhabi- 
tants, by  what  line  this  canal  approaches  them,  as  their  interests  would  be  almost  equally 
promoted  by  any  route  that  might  be  adopted.  I  presume,  however,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
on  this  point. 


364 


APPENDIX. 


The  Alleghany  mountains  have  a  uniform  elevation  of  about  three  thousand  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  tide.  Their  bases,  together  with  those  of  their  parallel  ridges,  occupy  a  dis- 
tance, transversely,  of  about  one  hundred  miles.  They  present  a  barrier  to  the  opening  of 
any  continued  navigation  from  the  middle  states  to  the  western  country,  which,  if  not  beyond 
the  reach  of  art,  is  certainly  far  beyond  that  of  our  present  national  resources  to  surmount. 
An  inspection  of  the  map  will  at  once  point  out  this  leading  fact.  To  unite  the  highest 
navigable  waters  on  each  side  of  the  mountains,  by  good  roads,  is  all  that  can  for  some  years, 
and  perhaps  for  some  centuries,  be  attempted  ;  and  very  valuable  communications  may  be 
opened  in  this  way. 

To  the  south  and  west  of  these  mountains,  the  River  Mississippi  affords  an  invaluable 
descending  navigation  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  vast  countries  which  it  traverses.  But  such 
is  the  great  extent  of  that  river,  and  the  uniform  rapidity  of  its  current,  that  great  doubts 
are  entertained  whether  it  can  ever  be  made  a  valuable  ascending  navigation.  It  certainly 
cannot,  in  the  present  state  of  the  science  of  navigation,  even  with  the  improvements  of  the 
steam-boat.  To  the  north,  still  more  important  difficulties  present  themselves  in  the  navi- 
gation of  the  St.  Lawrence.  One  of  these  is  found  in  the  great  rapids  of  the  river,  and  an- 
other in  the  severity  of  the  climate,  which  is  such  as  to  shut  up  the  mouth  of  that  river  with 
ice,  for  six  or  seven  months  in  the  year.  The  only  practicable  route  for  an  ascending  naviga- 
tion to  the  lakes,  is  by  way  of  the  Hudson  and  Mohawk,  in  the  state  of  New-York;  the 
Hudson  being  the  only  river  whose  tide  waters  flow  above  the  Blue  Ridge,  or  eastern  chain 
of  mountains.  The  Mohawk  rises  in  the  level  lands  of  the  western  country,  in  the  vicinity 
of  Lake  Ontario,  from  whence  it  takes  an  easterly  direction  for  about  a  hundred  and  forty 
miles  near  to  Albany,  the  seat  of  government  of  the  state  of  New-York,  where  it  passes 
around  the  northern  extremity  of  the  western  chain  of  Alleghany  mountains,  and  falls  into 
the  Hudson.  From  thence  the  two  rivers  united,  take  a  southerly  course,  and  breaking 
through  the  east  chain  of  mountains,  commonly  called  the  Blue  Ridge,  at  West  Point,  fall 
into  the  Atlantic  at  New-York.  The  Hudson  is  navigable  from  New- York  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Mohawk,  a  distance  of  a  hundred  and  seventy  miles,  for  sloops  drawing  from  eight  to  ten 
feet  of  water.  The  Mohawk  is  a  river  of  respectable  size,  and  for  most  of  its  distance  deep 
and  navigable  ;  but  its  navigation  is  occasionally  interrupted  by  falls.  A  canal  of  any  extent 
may  be  made  along  the  margin  of  this  river,  and  supplied  with  its  waters,  as  high  as  Rome, 
which  is  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  from  its  mouth.  From  Rome,  a  canal  of  one  mile 
and  a  half  in  length,  over  lands  which  do  not  rise  more  than  nine  feet  above  the  bed  of  the 
river,  will  connect  it  with  the  waters  of  Lake  Ontario,  down  which  the  canal  may  be  con- 
tinued, about  sixty  miles,  to  the  lake.  The  highest  elevation  of  this  canal  at  Rome,  would 
be  less  than  four  hundred  feet  above  the  tide  water  of  the  Hudson,  and  less  than  two  hundred 
above  the  surface  of  Lake  Ontario.  The  whole  expense  of  this  canal  from  the  Hudson  to 
the  lake,  is  estimated  by  the  secretary  of  the  treasury,  in  his  very  able  report  to  the  senate, 


APPENDIX. 


365 


of  April,  1800,  on  the  subject  of  roads  and  canals,  at  2,200,000  dollars ;  and  I  will  take  the 
liberty  t  o  recommend  to  the  members  of  this  house  the  perusal  of  that  report,  as  containing 
a  fund  of  the  most  useful  geographical  and  other  information,  which,  on  every  subject  of 
political  economy,  that  gentleman  is  so  eminently  qualified  to  impart. 

From  the  place  where  this  canal  would  connect  with  Lake  Ontario,  there  is  a  ship  navi- 
gation of  two  hundred  miles  to  the  falls  of  Niagara.  A  canal  with  locks  sufficiently  large 
for  the  vessels  that  navigate  the  lakes,  might  be  opened  around  these  falls,  at  an  expense, 
estimated  by  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  at  one  million  of  dollars.  From  the  Niagara 
River  there  is  again  a  ship  navigation  to  every  part  of  Lake  Erie.  It  is  presumed  that  a 
canal  might  be  opened  from  Lake  Erie  to  the  Ohio,  for  the  sum  of  five  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  and  another  canal  cut  around  the  falls  of  the  Ohio,  for  the  like  sum  of  five  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  And  from  the  falls  of  the  Ohio,  there  is  a  good  navigation  of  near  two 
thousand  miles  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  And  thus,  sir,  for  the  sum  of  4,200,000  dollars,  a 
great  circumnavigation  might  be  formed,  embracing  the  principal  part  of  the  United  States 
and  their  territories,  and  connecting  in  its  course,  by  navigable  waters,  the  whole  of  the 
western  and  Atlantic  countries.  This  canal  would  open  to  the  navigation  of  the  Atlantic 
on  the  lakes  alone,  inclusive  of  Lake  Superior,  the  navigation  to  which  is  now  obstructed 
by  a  short  rapid  in  the  River  St.  Mary's,  which  connects  it  with  Lake  Huron ;  but  which 
obstruction  might  be  removed  by  an  expense  of  thirty  or  forty  thousand  dollars.  I  say,  sir, 
it  would  open  to  the  navigation  of  the  Atlantic,  on  the  lakes  alone,  a  coast  of  between  five 
and  six  thousand  miles,  of  as  fine  and  fertile  country  as  any  in  the  world.  And  it  would 
open  on  the  Mississippi,  and  its  various  waters,  a  country  not  less  fertile  and  still  more  ex- 
tensive. How  many  hundred  millions  of  dollars  such  an  operation  would  add  to  the  solid 
wealth  of  the  western  country,  I  wilJ  not  venture  to  conjecture.  But,  sir,  I  may  well  say, 
that  there  is  no  work  in  the  power  of  man,  which  would  give  such  life,  such  vigour,  such 
enterprise,  and  such  riches  to  the  citizens  of  that  country,  as  the  execution  of  this  canal. 
The  inhabitants  near  the  lakes  would  have  a  direct  communication  to  and  from  New-York, 
by  means  of  the  canal,  and  the  effect  of  it  would  be  to  double  the  price  of  their  produce,  and 
to  add  three  or  four  hundred  per  cent,  to  the  value  of  their  lands.  The  people  of  the  Ohio 
and  the  Mississippi  would  descend  with  their  produce  to  New-Orleans,  and  to  any  port  on 
the  Atlantic,  from  whence  they  might  return  with  the  articles  received  in  exchange  by  way 
of  the  Hudson  and  the  lakes,  to  their  own  homes.  The  idea  of  benefitting  the  people  of  the 
Ohio  and  Mississippi  to  any  great  extent  by  this  northern  navigation,  may  perhaps,  at  first, 
appear  visionary ;  but  I  can  state  it  as  a  fact,  that  even  at  this  time,  under  all  the  disadvan- 
tages of  that  route,  goods  may  be  transported  from  the  city  of  New- York,  by  the  way  of  the 
Hudson  and  the  lakes,  to  any  part  of  the  Ohio,  and  to  all  those  parts  of  the  Mississippi  above 
its  confluence  with  the  Ohio,  at  as  cheap  a  rate  as  they  can  be  transported  from  any  port 
on  the  Atlantic,  by  any  other  route.    The  effect  of  opening  this  navigation,  would  then  be 

44 


366 


APPENDIX. 


to  reduce  the  price  of  transportation  to  those  parts  of  the  country,  at  least  fifty,  and  probably 
seventy-five  per  cent.  Another  important  advantage,  independent  of  the  general  commerce 
of  the  lakes,  would  be  felt  in  the  reduction  of  at  least  fifty  per  cent,  in  the  price  of  salt. 
The  salt  springs  in  the  state  of  New-York,  are  within  a  few  miles  of  the  proposed  line  of 
circumnavigation,  and  are  connected  with  it  by  a  navigable  river.  This  article  may  be 
manufactured  at  those  springs  in  sufficient  quantities  for  the  whole  of  the  population  of  the 
United  States,  and  it  is  now  sold  there  for  twenty-five  and  thirty  cents  a  bushel ;  but  such  is 
the  present  expense  of  transportation,  that  it  sells  in  the  Pittsburg  market  for  two  dollars  a 
bushel.  If  the  effect  of  opening  a  canal  navigation  were  only  to  reduce  the  price  at  Pitts- 
burg to  one  dollar,  it  would  make  a  saving  on  the  quantity  now  sent  to  that  market,  of  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars  a  year.  But,  sir,  aside  from  all  the  pecuniary  benefits  I  have 
mentioned,  the  great  political  effect  of  this  work  would  be,  by  opening  extensive  communi- 
cations, encouraging  intercourse,  and  promoting  connexions  between  the  various  ports  of 
the  Atlantic  and  western  states,  to  subdue  local  jealousies,  and  to  bind  the  union  together 
by  the  indissoluble  ties  of  interest  and  friendship. 

There  may  be  some,  sir,  whose  fears  to  do  any  thing  which  shall  diminish  the  national 
resources,  may  incline  them  to  reject  this  system  of  internal  improvement  at  the  first  view, 
on  account  of  the  magnitude  of  its  expense.  Let  me  ask  these  gentlemen  to  give  themselves 
the  trouble  to  trace  the  consequences  of  this  system  on  the  public  wealth,  and  they  will  soon 
be  satisfied  that  there  are  no  possible  means  by  which  the  aggregate  value  of  the  landed 
property  of  the  United  States  could  be  so  certainly  increased,  as  by  the  application  of  part 
of  these  lands  to  the  purposes  of  opening  the  great  inland  navigation  which  I  have  before 
described.  The  immediate  and  necessary  effect  of  which  would  be,  to  enhance  the  value 
of  the  remaining  part  to  an  almost  inconceivable  extent. 

I  have  been  somewhat  conversant  with  the  interests  of  the  great  private  landholders  of 
the  western  country.  They  are  a  class  of  people  whose  sagacity  in  discovering  and  indus- 
try in  pursuing  the  means  of  accumulating  wealth,  are  not  to  be  questioned.  When  they 
undertake  the  sale  and  settlement  of  wild  lands,  there  is  no  policy  so  well  understood,  or  so 
generally  adopted,  as  that  of  opening  easy  and  extensive  communications,  through  the  differ- 
ent parts  of  their  lands,  and  of  facilitating  the  approaches  to  them  by  means  of  good  roads. 
And  for  every  dollar  they  expend  in  these  roads,  or  indeed,  in  almost  any  other  public  im- 
provement, they  are  sure  to  be  remunerated  three  or  four  hundred  per  cent,  in  the  increased 
value  which  is  thereby  given  to  these  lands. 

The  United  States  are  the  owners  of  about  250,000,000  acres  of  land  in  the  western 
country,  independent  of  Louisiana.  More  than  100,000,000  acres  lie  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
lakes.  The  public  lands  occupy  a  coast  on  the  lakes  of  more  than  2,600  miles  in  extent,  in- 
elusive  of  the  navigable  straits  by  which  they  are  connected ;  but  exclusive  of  the  nu- 
merous and  extensive  islands  abounding,  more  or  less,  in  all  of  them.    Taking  thirty  miles 


APPENDIX. 


367 


in  breadth  along  this  coast,  will  give  about  50,000,000  of  acres  of  public  land,  the  most  re- 
mote of  which  is  within  thirty  miles  of  the  navigable  waters  of  the  lakes.  A  canal  might 
be  effected  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  lakes,  by  an  appropriation  of  1 ,000,000  of  acres  to  that 
object.  And  this  not  by  an  actual  sinking  or  sacrifice  of  the  price  of  the  land,  but  by  a 
conversion  of  it  into  canal  stock  ;  which  stock  would,  in  all  probability,  be  more  productive 
and  more  valuable  than  the  land  itself.  And  the  effect  of  opening  this  navigation  would  be 
to  enhance  the  value  of  the  remaining  49,000,000  some  hundreds  per  cent.  The  value  of 
land  must  depend  upon  the  value  of  its  produce,  or,  to  speak  with  more  precision,  upon  the 
profits  which  this  produce  will  yield  to  the  agriculturist.  To  show  the  effect  of  opening 
this  navigation  on  these  profits,  I  will  instance  the  article  of  wheat,  which  is  one  of  the 
great  staple  articles  of  the  lake  country,  and  is  produced  there  with  great  certainty  and  in 
greater  perfection  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  United  States.  The  average  price  of  a 
bushel  of  wheat  on  the  lakes  is  fifty  cents.  This  depression  of  price  is  owing  solely  to  the 
present  expense  of  conveying  it  to  market.  It  costs  from  75  to  100  cents  to  transport  a 
bushel  of  wheat  from  the  lakes  to  New-York,  which  is  its  nearest  American  market.  If  a 
canal  were  cut  from  the  Hudson  to  the  lakes,  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  it  would  reduce  the 
expense  of  transportation  from  75  and  100  as  low,  at  least,  as  25  cents;  and  the  effect  would 
be  to  add  the  saving  in  transportation  to  the  price  of  the  article,  and  wheat  would  then  be 
worth  on  the  lakes,  one  dollar  instead  of  fifty  cents  a  bushel.  But  it  costs  the  farmer  from 
30  to  40  cents  to  produce  a  bushel  of  wheat.  When,  therefore,  he  sells  for  fifty  cents,  his 
profits  are  only  from  ten  to  twenty  cents.  Whereas,  if  he  could  sell  for  one  dollar,  his  pro- 
fits would  be  from  sixty  to  seventy  cents.  The  effect  then  of  opening  this  navigation  would 
be  to  increase  the  profits  of  the  farmer  from  four  to  six  hundred  per  cent,  and  the  value  of 
land  ought  to  rise  in  the  same  proportion.  But  suppose  it  should  only  double  the  value  of 
lands  (and  this  is  an  effect  cannot  be  doubted)  what  would  be  the  result  as  respects  the  pro- 
perty of  the  United  States  ?  Why,  sir,  the  50,000,000  of  acres  on  the  lakes,  which  are  now 
worth  50,000,000  of  dollars,  would  immediately  become  worth  one  hundred  millions.  And 
thus,  besides  performing  a  great  and  imperious  duty,  which,  as  a  government,  we  owe  to  the 
people  of  the  western  country,  we  should  by  this  operation,  as  mere  proprietors  of  the  soil, 
and  in  a  matter  of  pecuniary  speculation,  advance  the  public  property  fifty  millions  of 
dollars. 

But,  sir,  there  are  some  gentlemen  who  arc  friendly  to  this  system  of  internal  improve- 
ment, but  who  think  the  present  time  inauspicious  to  such  an  undertaking,  on  account  of 
the  reduced  state  of  the  treasury. 

To  this  objection  I  would  answer,  first,  that  the  means  by  which  it  is  proposed  to  carry  on 
these  improvements,  are  such  as  are  not  calculated  to  make  any  sensible  impression  on  the 
revenue  ;  and,  secondly,  that  the  bare  increase  of  the  sales  of  land,  which  would  be  effected 
in  consequence  of  undertaking  these  works,  would  more  than  supply  the  drains  on  the  trea- 


368 


APPENDIX. 


sury  in  constructing  them.  I  do  not  know  that  I  can  demonstrate  the  truth  of  this  last 
position  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  house;  but  there  is  not  the  shade  of  a  doubt  on  my  mind, 
but  the  mere  undertaking  of  a  great  canal  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  lakes,  under  the  auspice? 
of  the  general  government,  would,  in  a  very  short  time,  cause  the  sale  of  more  land  than 
would  be  sufficient  to  accomplish  the  whole  of  the  improvements  contemplated  in  the  bill 
before  the  senate. 

The  expense  of  executing  the  whole  of  the  works  enumerated  in  that  bill,  is  estimated  at 
sixteen  millions  of  dollars.  This  is  not  a  mere  random  estimate  of  my  own.  It  has  been 
formed  from  the  best  information  which  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  has  been  able  to  col- 
lect on  this  subject,  by  a  gentleman  (Mr.  Latrobe)  who  as  an  experienced  and  scientific  engi- 
neer, is  confessedly  superior  to  any  other  in  this  country.  The  estimate  was  intended  to 
be  a  liberal  one,  and  to  show  the  maximum  price  which  the  works  could  cost.  If  the  United 
States  were  to  be  interested  one-half  in  these  works,their  subscription  would  amount  to  eight 
millions  of  dollars.  The  proposed  plan,  however,  does  not  contemplate  the  payment  of  the 
principal  sum  out  of,  nor  to  make  it  chargeable  upon,  our  ordinary  revenue ;  but  it  provides 
that  when  monies  shall  be  wanted  to  carry  on  these  internal  improvements,  certificates  shall 
be  issued  from  the  treasury,  bearing  an  interest  of  six  per  centum,  redeemable  eventually 
out  of  the  proceeds  of  a  particular  tract  of  land  set  apart  to  be  sold  for  that  purpose. — 
These  certificates  may  be  sold  in  market,  or  they  may  be  immediately  applied  to  the  pur- 
poses for  which  they  shall  be  issued. 

Suppose,  then,  that  the  whole  of  these  works  were  to  be  undertaken  immediately,  and 
completed  within  ten  years ;  and  suppose,  too,  that  no  monies  should  be  received  from  the 
sales  of  the  hypothecated  lands.    The  calls  on  the  treasury  would  then  be, 


For  the  first  year,           .....  $48,000 

2d,  -  98,000 

3d,                   -          -                    -          -  144,000 

5th,       -          -          -          -          -          -  240,000 

10th,     ......  480,000 


which  sum  of  480,000  dollars  is  the  interest  of  the  whole  principal  sum  of  eight  millions. — 
And  this,  sir,  would  not  be  a  very  large  sum  compared  to  the  magnitude  of  the  object,  and 
the  extent  of  our  revenue  ;  especially  when  it  is  considered  that,  after  one  year  from  this 
time,  and  before  the  effect  of  such  an  appropriation  could  be  felt, our  revenue  will  be  relieved 
from  the  payment  of  two  millions  of  dollars,  and  after  two  years,  from  the  payment  of  four 
millions  of  dollars  annually,  in  consequence  of  the  reductions  which  will  then  have  taken 
place  in  the  principal  of  the  national  debt. 

But  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  not  more  than  one-third  of  these  works  would  be  undertaken 
immediately,  and  that  these  will  be  completed  before  any  others  are  begun.  The  works,  as 
fast  as  they  shall  be  completed,  will  be  drawing  a  toll  equal  at  least,  it  is  presumed,  to  the 


APPENDIX 


interest  of  the  money  they  cost ;  and  in  this  way  the  treasury  will  be  relieved  from  the  pay- 
ment of  that  interest.    Upon  this  calculation,  the  United  States  would  never  have  to  pay, 
in  any  one  year,  a  greater  sum  than  the  interest  of  one-third  of  the  principal  sum  of  eight 
millions  of  dollars  ;  and  in  this  case,  the  calls  on  the  treasury  would  be  (supposing  again 
that  no  aids  were  derived  from  the  sale  of  lands)  as  follow : 

For  the  first  year,        .....  $16,000 

2d,      -     ♦  -         -         -         -         -  32,000 

3d,      -----          -  48,000 

5th,  80,000 
10th,    ------  160,000 

the  highest  sum  called  for  in  any  one  year. 

Let  us  now  see  what  will  be  the  probable  amount  of  the  sales  of  land,  within  a  given 
period,  to  forward  the  execution  of  these  improvements. 

The  present  population  of  the  United  Sates  is  estimated  at  seven  and  a  half  millions. — 
It  is  well  ascertained  that  our  population  doubles  once  in  twenty-three  years ;  and  it  cer- 
tainly is  increasing,  at  this  time,  in  as  high  a  ratio  as  any  former  period.  According  to  a 
calculation  of  Mr.  Blodget  (in  his  statistical  tables)  something  more  than  one-third  of  the 
increasing  population  of  the  United  States  is  constantly  migrating  to  the  western  country. — 
One-third  of  the  increased  population,  (or  that  portion  which  will  migrate)  for  the  next 
twenty-three  years,  will  amount  to  two  and  a  half  millions.  But  suppose  that  only  two  mil- 
lions should  emigrate,  and  that  only  one  million  of  these  should  settle  on  the  public  lands. 
This  population  would  require  fifty  millions  of  acres,  or  fifty  acres  to  each  person,  which  is 
about  the  average  quantity  taken  by  new  settlers ;  and  it  would  bring  into  the  treasury,  in 
the  space  of  twenty-three  years,  the  enormous  sum  of  one  hundred  millions  of  dollars,  upon 
the  supposition  that  the  whole  of  the  land  should  be  purchased  at  the  minimum  price  of  two 
dollars  an  acre.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  it  will  sell  much  higher;  and,  if  so,  the 
aggregate  amount  of  the  sum  will  be  increased  in  proportion  to  the  increase  of  the 
price. 

Such  a  demand  for  new  lands  may  appear  extravagant  to  those  who  have  not  attended 
to  the  progressive  population  and  settlement  of  the  United  States  for  the  last  twenty  years. 
A  moment's  recurrence  to  a  few  well  known  facts  on  this  subject,  will  show  that  such  a  de- 
mand is  not  only  probable,  but  that,  unless  some  great  national  calamity  befalls  us,  it  is  cer- 
tain. The  population  of  the  state  of  New- York  has  considerably  more  than  doubled  within 
the  last  twenty  years.  Upwards  of  fifteen  millions  of  acres  in  the  western  part  of  that 
state,  which  twenty  years  ago  formed  a  dreary  and  uninhabited  wilderness,  are  now  covered 
by  settlements,  and  compose  one  of  the  most  flourishing  parts  of  the  United  States.  Popu- 
lation and  settlement  have  progressed  nearly  or  quite  to  the  same  extent  in  the  northern  and 
western  parts  of  the  state  of  Pennsylvania.  That  tract  of  country  which  now  forms  the  state 


370 


APPENDIX. 


of  Ohio,  did  not  contain,  twenty  years  ago,  one  thousand  inhabitants ;  and  now  it  has  a 
population  of  more  than  200,000.  The  great  states  of  Kentucky  and  Tennesee  have 
been  almost  wholly  peopled  within  the  same  period ;  and  it  is  not  extravagant  to  say,  that 
more  than  one  hundred  millions  of  acres  have  been  actually  purchased  and  occupied  within 
the  last  twenty  years  in  the  western  country. 

It  is  true,  sir,  that  the  rate  at  which  the  public  lands  are  now,  and  have  been  for  some  time 
past  selling,  is  not  such  as  to  warrant  the  calculation  I  have  made  as  to  future  sales ;  but  the 
causes  of  these  sales  being  so  contracted  are  obvious.  One  principal  cause,  which,  however, 
will  immediately  cease  to  operate,  because  it  is  ceasing  to  be  a  fact,  has  been  that  the  public 
lands  were  remote  from  the  inhabited  parts  of  the  country.  Settlements  will  always  be  re- 
gular and  progressive.  People  accustomed  to  the  pleasures  and  advantages  of  society,  do 
not  choose  to  remove  far  into  the  wilderness,  when  they  can  purchase  lands  in  the  vicinity 
of  old  settlements.  Several  of  the  individual  states  have  held  large  tracts  of  wild  land, 
which,  being  more  contiguous  to  settlements,  came  of  course  first  into  market.  But  the 
lands  of  the  individual  states,  especially  to  the  northward, are  now  nearly  all  occupied.  The 
state  of  New-York, for  instance,  has  but  few  new  lands.  Settlement  in  that  state  has  advanced 
to  its  western  extremity.  The  same  is  the  case  with  Pennsylvania — and  the  whole  of  the 
immense  emigration  from  the  northern  and  middle  states,  will  be  immediately  pressing  upon 
the  public  lands.  Another  reason  for  the  paucity  of  sales  is,  that  we  have  no  lands  in  mar- 
ket calculated  for  this  northern  emigration.  The  lands  on  the  lakes  are  shut  up.  We  have 
no  lands  for  sale  further  north  than  the  south  part  of  the  state  of  Ohio,  and  that  is  too  low  a 
latitude  for  most  of  the  northern  population. 

Another  impediment  to  the  sales  of  public  lands  arises  from  the  circumstance  that  you  will 
receive  nothing  but  specie  in  payment  for  them.  The  people  who  migrate  to  new  countries 
are,  with  few  exceptions,  of  the  poorer  class.  They  rarely  have  more  than  property  sufficient 
to  transport  their  families  to  their  new  places  of  residence,  to  construct  a  few  temporary 
accommodations,  and  to  subsist  themselves  and  families  until  their  farms  become  productive. 
They  then  calculate  to  pay  for  their  farms  by  the  produce  of  them.  But  the  products  of 
the  public  lands  in  their  present  occluded  situation,  will  not  command  money,  and  settlers 
are  therefore  deterred  from  purchasing.  If,  instead  of  confining  the  payments  to  money, 
you  were  to  undertake  this  system  of  internal  improvement,  and  issue  paper  to  enable  you  to 
execute  it,  and  make  this  paper  receivable  at  the  land  offices,  the  additional  facilities  which 
this  would  afford  to  payments  would  not  only  bring  back  this  paper  into  the  treasury,  but 
large  sums  of  money  with  it.  To  show  the  effect  of  such  a  policy,  I  need  only  refer  to  a 
comparative  view  of  the  sales  of  public  lands  during  the  time  when  the  evidences  of  the 
public  debt  were  receivable  in  payment  for  lands,  and  the  sales  which  have  taken  place  since 
that  period. 


APPENDIX. 


371 


The  sales  in  the  year  1803,  amounted  to  199,080  acres. 

1804,  do.         373,611  do. 

1805,  do.         619,230  do. 

During  the  whole  of  this  time  the  public  paper  was  receivable  in  payment.  The  amount 
of  sales  was  increasing  near  one  hundred  per  cent,  yearly,  and  would  probably  have  conti- 
nued to  increase  in  the  same  ratio  to  this  time,  had  the  same  quantity  of  public  debt  been 
kept  afloat,  and  had  it,  continued  to  be  received  at  the  land  offices.  But,  sir,  in  April  1806,  a 
law  was  passed  prohibiting  the  further  receipt  of  the  public  debt  in  payment  for  land  :  And 
the  consequence  was,  that  the  sales  diminished, 


In  1806 

to 

473,217  acres. 

1807 

to 

284,180 

1808 

to 

195,579 

1809 

to 

143,409 

The  sales  thus  retrograding  in  amount,  in  about  the  same  ratio  in  which  they  had  before 
advanced,  and  this  for  no  other  assignable  cause  than  what  that  law  furnishes. 

But,  sir,  the  grand,  and  all-important  operation  by  which  only  you  can  make  extensive 
and  effectual  sales  of  the  public  lands,  is  to  open  the  produce  of  them  to  market,  and  in  this 
way  to  make  them  pay  for  themselves.  Do  this,  and  not  only  settlers,  but  monied  men  will 
become  purchasers.  There  are  now  thousands,  and  I  may  venture  to  say  millions  of  dollars 
in  the  northern  states,  ready  to  be  invested  in  the  lands  on  the  lakes,  the  moment  a  value 
shall  be  stamped  on  them,  by  the  certainty  that  they  will  be  speedily  opened  to  the  navigation 
of  the  Atlantic.  Let  the  United  States  and  the  state  of  New- York  undertake  a  canal  from 
the  Hudson  to  the  lakes  ;  and  so  far  from  draining  your  treasury  by  the  operation,  it  will  give 
you  in  five  years,  I  pledge  my  reputation  on  it,  an  overflowing  treasury.  There  can  be  no 
mistake  about  this  business,  sir,  it  is  a  matter  of  plain  calculation. 

The  government  of  the  state  of  New-York  have  long  seen  the  advantages  of  such  a  navi- 
gation ;  and  they  have  been  for  several  years  desirous  of  undertaking  this  canal.  They 
wait  only  in  the  expectation  that  the  general  government  will  aid  them  in  this  great  work ; 
and  this  is  certainly  a  just  and  reasonable  expectation,  inasmuch  as  the  work  would  benefit 
the  property  of  the  United  States  to  a  much  greater  extent  than  that  of  the  state  of  New- 
York. 

The  present  time,  far,  in  my  opinion,  from  being  unpropitious  to  the  undertaking  of  this 
measure  of  internal  improvement,  is  peculiarly  fortunate.  The  great  commercial  capitals 
which  have  been  thrown  out  of  employment  by  the  stagnation  of  foreign  commerce,  are  now 
idle,  and  might  be  engaged  in  these  improvements  by  a  little  attention  on  the  part  of  govern- 
ment; and  if  they  could  be  so  engaged,  they  would  continue  to  give  support  to  a  vast  num- 
ber of  our  sailors  and  other  labourers  who  have  hitherto  been  employed  in  the  subordinate 


372 


APPENDIX. 


occupations  of  commerce,  but  who  have  also  been  thrown  out  of  employment  by  the  stagna- 
tion of  that  commerce. 

If  I  had  not  already  drawn  too  largely  upon  the  time  of  the  house,  I  could  point  out  other 
advantages  resulting  from  this  system  of  improvement,  not  less  important  than  those  I  have 
mentioned.  I  could  show  that  it  would  bring  into  the  treasury,  perhaps  some  mil- 
lions of  dollars  yearly,  by  the  increase  of  duties  on  imports.  The  great  additional  quanti- 
ties of  produce  which  would  be  thrown  into  market  through  these  roads  and  canals,  would 
be  exchanged  for  foreign  merchandise,  which  is  subject  to  heavy  duties;  and  from  which 
most  of  our  present  revenues  are  derived.  I  could  show  also  the  great  advantages  which, 
in  a  military  point  of  view,  would  result  from  these  improvements.  If  the  United  States 
were  to  be  engaged  in  a  war,  we  are  equally  vulnerable  and  equally  liable  to  be  assailed,  at 
half  a  dozen  different  points,  some  hundreds  and  even  thousands  of  miles  distant  from  each 
other  ;  and  it  would  be  impossible  to  carry  on  any  vigorous  military  operations,  without  the 
aid  of  good  roads  and  canals  to  transport  over  such  distances  the  immense  quantities  of  arms, 
ammunition,  and  provisions  necessary  to  the  supply  of  a  great  army.  It  is  sufficient, 
however,  that  I  suggest  these  arguments,  and  they  will  be  properly  appreciated  by  the 
house. 

But,  Mr.  Speaker,  there  is  one  other  point  of  view,  in  which,  although  an  unpleasant  one, 
I  feel  it  my  duty  to  present  this  subject  to  the  house :  and  this  regards  not  only  the  means 
of  improving  that  great  source  of  national  wealth,  the  public  lands,  to  the  best  advantage; 
but  it  involves  the  practicability  of  enjoying  it  at  all.  The  people  who  have  purchased  and 
settled  on  your  new  lands,  are  already  your  debtors  to  the  amount  of  some  millions  of 
dollars ;  and  in  as  far  as  they  are  your  debtors,  they  are  (to  use  a  phrase  perhaps  somewhat 
too  harsh)  a  species  of  enemy — and  we  have  already  seen  to  what  a  formidable  extent  their 
powers  and  numbers  are  increasing.  It  is  far  from  my  intention,  sir,  to  cast  any  injurious 
imputations  on  the  character  of  these  settlers.  On  the  contrary,  I  know  that  they  are  not 
to  be  distinguished  from  the  great  mass  of  the  yeomanry  of  this  country ;  among  whom  is 
to  be  found  most  of  the  real  patriotism,  as  well  as  the  real  strength  of  the  nation.  It  is  on 
them  that  we  are  to  depend  for  the  security  and  permanence  of  our  republican  institutions. 
It  is  to  them  that  this  government  must  resort  for  protection  and  support,  in  every  great  and 
dangerous  crisis.  I  say,  sir,  that  I  am  not  about  to  impeach  either  the  honesty  or  the 
patriotism  of  these  settlers ;  it  is  their  interest  and  their  wish  to  pay  their  debts,  and  to  dis- 
charge all  their  duties  to  government  as  good  and  faithful  citizens.  But  let. me  ask  you,  sir, 
let  me  ask  any  man  of  common  observation,  who  has  attended  in  the  least,  to  the 
situation  of  the  western  country,  how  it  is  possible  for  these  settlers  to  pay  you  fifty  or  an 
hundred  millions  of  dollars  in  specie,  when  they  have  no  other  resources  than  in  their  agri- 
culture, and  when  the  produce  of  this  agriculture  will  not  bring  them  money  enough  to  buy 


APPENDIX. 


373 


their  whiskey.  It  is  impossible,  sir,  and  it' you  intend  to  hold  those  lands,  much  more  if  you 
intend  to  make  them  a  source  of  public  revenue,  you  must  furnish  the  means  of  making 
them  productive,  by  opening  them  to  market.  Every  motive  of  interest  and  policy  unites  in 
urging  the  government  to  undertake  this  system  of  internal  improvement.  It  is  a  subject 
too  vast  to  be  accomplished  by  individual  enterprise.  The  means  of  the  citizens  of  the 
western  country  are  peculiarly  inadequate  to  such  an  undertaking.  They  cannot  construct 
canals  for  the  very  obvious  reason  that  they  are  already  deeply  in  debt  for  their  lands,  and 
they  must  continue  so  until  this  great  work  is  executed  for  them.  They  will  then  not  only 
be  able  to  pay  you  for  their  lands,  but  they  will  remunerate  you  for  the  expense  of  opening 
canals  by  the  tolls  which  they  will  be  able  to  pay.  In  the  advantages  which  these  outlets 
for  their  produce  will  give  them,  and  on  which  their  prosperity  must  so  essentially  depend, 
you  will  have  a  pledge  for  their  future  attachment  and  fidelity  to  your  government,  and 
which  they  will  never  forfeit.  But,  sir,  if  you  neglect  to  avail  yourselves  of  the  opportunity 
which  this  system  affords,  of  securing  the  affections  of  the  western  people — if  you  refuse  to 
extend  to  them  those  benefits  which  their  situation  so  imperiously  demands,  and  which  your 
resources  enable  you,  and  your  duty  enjoins  it  on  you,  to  extend  to  them — if,  while  you  are 
expending  millions  yearly  for  the  encouragement  of  commerce,  you  affect  constitutional 
doubts  as  to  your  right  to  expend  any  thing  for  the  advancement  of  agriculture — if  you  can 
constitutionally  create  banks  for  the  accommodation  of  the  merchant,  but  cannot  construct 
canals  for  the  benefit  of  the  farmer, — if  this  be  the  crooked,  partial  policy  which  is  to  be 
pursued,  there  is  great  reason  to  fear  that  our  western  brethren  may  soon  accost  us  in  atone 
higher  than  that  of  the  constitution  itself.  They  may  remind  us  (as  the  people  of  this 
country  once  did  another  power,  equally  regardless  of  their  interests)  of  the  rights  with 
which  the  God  of  nature  has  invested  them,  by  placing  them  in  the  possession  of  a  country 
which  they  have  the  physical  power  to  defend  ;  and  which  it  is  to  be  feared,  they  would 
defend  against  all  the  tax-gatherers  we  could  send  among  them,  supported  by  all  the  force 
of  the  Atlantic  states. 

It  is  unpleasant,  sir,  to  be  obliged  to  press  considerations  of  this  sort  on  the  attention  of 
the  house.  Disagreeable,  however,  as  they  are,  they  are  not  on  that  account  the  less  im- 
portant, and  ought  not  to  be  disregarded.  If  you  would  attach  the  affections  of  the  western 
people  to  your  government,  you  must  attach  them  by  their  interests.  You  must  appear 
among  them,  not  in  the  light  of  their  creditors  merely,  but  as  their  guardians,  their  protec- 
tors, as  the  promoters  of  their  welfare.  If  you  avoid  all  communication  with  them,  except 
what  arises  out  of  your  relations  as  creditors,  and  go  among  them  only  to  collect  their 
money,  be  assured  that  this  is  an  intercourse  which  they  will  soon  break  off.  You  have 
seen  how  effectual  an  opposition  a  few  settlers  in  the  north  part  of  Pennsylvania  have  been 
able  to  make  to  the  authority  of  that  great  state ;  and  you  have  seen  in  a  more  recent 
instance,  the  difficulties  which  a  handful  of  squatters  have  opposed  to  the  power  of  another 

45 


374 


APPENDIX. 


great  state,  the  state  of  Massachusetts — and  from  these  examples  you  may  well  calculate  the 
effect  of  an  opposition  from  the  host  of  settlers  who  are  covering  your  new  lands.  But  I 
have  said  enough  on  this  subject. 

I  am  under  great  obligation  to  the  house,  for  the  attention  which  I  have  received  during 
this  long  discussion,  and  I  will  not  trespass  any  further.  In  the  various  aspects  in  which  I 
have  presented  this  system  of  internal  improvement,  I  have  considered  it  principally  in 
reference  to  the  effects  which  it  is  calculated  to  produce  on  the  western  country  ;  because, 
in  that  point  of  view  I  consider  it  not  only  most  important,  but  least  understood.  I 
have  not  gone  into  a  particular  examination  of  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  the  proposed 
canals  and  roads  along  the  Atlantic,  not  because  I  do  not  think  them  important,  but  because 
this  part  of  the  subject  is  as  well  and  perhaps  better  understood  by  the  members  generally 
than  by  myself.  For  the  same  reason  I  have  not  gone  into  any  minute  calculations  to  show 
the  superior  cheapness  and  safety  of  canal  transportation,  over  transportation  by  land. 
That  point  is  fully  illustrated  in  the  report  of  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  to  which  I  have 
before  alluded.  I  believe,  however,  I  have  said  enough,  and  more  than  enough,  to  satisfy 
the  house  of  the  importance  of  the  subject,  and  of  the  propriety  of  referring  it  to  a  committee. 
This  great  system,  so  necessary,  in  my  opinion,  to  the  welfare  of  this  country,  is  not  a 
measure  of  speculative  or  doubtful  utility.  Its  advantages  are  great  and  palpable  ;  and  the 
accomplishment  of  it  perfectly  within  the  reach  of  the  resources  of  the  nation.  I  have 
not  been  induced  to  bring  forward  this  resolution  by  any  personal  considerations,  but  I  have 
done  it  in  obedience  to  a  great  duty  which  I  owe  my  constituents.  So  far  from  being  a  pro- 
ject confined  to  myself,  or  even  to  a  few  individuals,  the  proposition,  which  I  now  submit, 
carries  with  it  the  anxious  wishes,  and  the  best  hopes  of  a  large  and  respectable  portion  of 
the  population  of  this  country— and  permit  me  to  hope,  sir,  that  their  expectations  may  not 
be  disappointed. 


Note  W.— p.  97. 

Services  of  the  late  Thomas  Eddy. 

About  two  years  since,  conversing  with  Mr.  Eddy  in  relation  to  the  impor- 
tant services  he  had  rendered  to  the  state,  particularly  in  fostering  our  schools, 
our  benevolent  institutions,  and  especially  in  promoting  the  late  improvements 
in  canal  navigation  ;  at  the  same  time  observing  his  health  to  be  rapidly  declin- 
ing,! urged  upon  him  the  importance  of  committing  to  paper,  some  details  of  the 
services  he  had  contributed.    After  his  lamented  death,  which  took  place  on 


APPENDIX. 


375 


the  13th  September,  1827,  a  number  of  memoranda  were  found,  which  pro- 
bably had  been  prepared  in  consequence  of  the  suggestion  before  mentioned. 
Upon  the  subject  of  the  canals  of  this  state,  the  following  are  the  remarks 
he  has  committed  to  paper,  which  his  family  have  kindly  placed  in  my  hands. 
Upon  another  occasion,  his  observations  upon  other  interesting  topics  may 
also  be  communicated  to  the  public. 

Canals. 

"  I  was  one  of  the  first  directors  of  the  Western  Inland  Lock  Navigation 
Company,  and  continued  as  a  director,  and  treasurer,  until  the  company  dis- 
posed of  their  property  to  the  state  in  1820.  I  applied  myself  with  much 
zeal  in  forwarding  the  views  of  the  company,  in  improving  the  internal  navi- 
gation of  the  state.  Our  funds  were  not  sufficient  to  extend  any  improvement 
further  than  a  few  miles  west  of  Rome.  The  company  had  in  their  service 
William  Weston,  an  eminent  engineer  from  England,  and  in  company  with 
him  and  General  Schuyler,  the  president,  I  made  several  journies  to  the  west- 
ward, in  order  to  explore  and  examine  the  country  as  far  as  Seneca  Lake, 
with  the  view  to  ascertain  the  practicability  of  making  improvements  in  the 
navigation  as  far  as  that  place.  Being  well  satisfied  from  my  own  observa- 
tion, of  the  practicability  of  making  extensive  improvements  by  means  of 
canals,  &c.  through  the  western  parts  of  the  state,  and  considering  the  incal- 
culable advantages  that  would  result  from  the  completion  of  such  a  mag- 
nificent work,  my  mind  was  devoted  to  its  accomplishment.  As  I  was  active 
in  the  prosecution  of  the  improvements  made  by  the  Western  Inland  Lock 
Navigation  Company,  the  geography  and  topography  of  the  western  parts  of 
this  state  were  very  familiar  to  my  mind;  and  having  been  exceedingly  intimate 
with  William  Weston,  when  he  was  in  this  country  employed  by  the  company 
as  canal  engineer,  and  having  accompanied  him  in  exploring  the  country  from 
Rome  to  Cayuga  Lake,  in  1790,  and  being  repeatedly  with  him,  whilst  he 
was  employed  on  the  canals  on  the  Mohawk  River,  my  knowledge  of  the 
whole  face  of  the  country  fixed  in  my  mind  an  ardent  desire  to  extend  a  com- 
plete canal  navigation  from  Rome  to  Seneca  River.  Occasionally  for  many 
years,  1  urged  the  Western  Canal  Company  to  extend  their  improvements 


376 


APPENDIX. 


further  west.  A  vast  sum  of  money  had  been  expended  by  them  in  improv- 
ing the  navigation  of  the  Mohawk,  which  for  many  years  absorbed  the  tolls, 
and  prevented  a  dividend  being  made  among  the  stockholders.  Under  these 
circumstances,  no  importunities  of  mine  could  prevail  on  the  company  to 
make  advances  for  further  improvements.  In  March  1810,  I  was  at  Albany, 
and  it  occurred  to  me  that  possibly  the  legislature  might  be  induced  to  ap- 
point commissioners  to  examine  and  explore  the  western  parts  of  this  state, 
for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  practicability  of  extending  canal  naviga- 
tion, and  to  estimate  the  expense  and  report  thereon.  I  was  perfectly  con- 
vinced that  if  commissioners  should  be  appointed,  they  would  make  a  very 
favourable  report.  My  friend  Jonas  Piatt,  now  one  of  the  judges  of  the 
supreme  court,  was  then  a  member  of  the  senate,  and  on  the  evening  of  the 
12th  of  March,  I  called  upon  him,  and  suggested  to  him  a  plan,  on  which  I 
had  never  consulted  any  person,  of  proposing  to  the  legislature  to  appoint 
commissioners  as  before  mentioned,  and  I  proposed  to  him  that  he  should  use 
his  endeavours  in  the  senate  to  further  the  plan.  He  replied  he  very  highly 
approved  of  my  proposition,  and  asked,  why  not  make  it  the  duty  of  these 
commissioners  to  explore  the  country  as  far  as  Lake  Erie,  with  the  view  to 
ascertain  the  practicability  of  making  a  complete  canal  from  thence  to  the 
Hudson  ?  Wc  then  agreed  to  its  being  made  in  this  way,  and  he  immediately 
drafted  a  joint  resolution  to  be  offered  to  both  branches  of  the  legislature, 
which  it  was  agreed  he  should  present  to  the  senate  next  morning.  We  also 
thought  it  would  be  proper  for  us  then  to  fix  on  suitable  names  to  offer  to  the 
senate  as  commissioners,  and  we  agreed  as  to  the  necessity  of  selecting  per- 
sons equally  from  the  two  great  political  parties  which  then  divided  the  state. 
This  we  did,  according  to  the  best  judgment  we  could  form,  and  the  follow- 
ing gentlemen  were  nominated,  viz.  Gouverneur  Morris,  De  Witt  Clinton, 
Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  Simeon  De  Witt,  William  North,  Thomas  Eddy, 
and  Peter  B.  Porter.  It  was  concluded  that  I  should  meet  Judge  Piatt  at 
the  senate  chamber  next  morning,  when  I  accordingly  attended,  and  we 
called  out  De  Witt  Clinton,  and  showed  him  the  resolution.  He  expressed 
his  hearty  concurrence  with  our  plan,  and  as  soon  as  the  senate  was  formed, 
Judge  Piatt  presented  the  resolution  which  we  had  prepared  the  previous 


APPENDIX. 


377 


evening.  It  was  seconded  by  Mr.  Clinton,  and  passed  without  a  dissenting 
voice.  It  was  immediately  sent  to  the  assembly,  and  passed  that  house  in  the 
same  manner,  within  an  hour  after.  In  the  summer  of  1810,  I  accompanied 
the  other  commissioners,  in  exploring  the  country  as  far  as  Lake  Erie.  In 
1811,  we  made  our  first  report  to  the  legislature. 

"  Several  laws  were  enacted  favourable  to  the  prosecution  of  the  project,  not- 
withstanding which,  the  measure  met  with  a  serious  and  warm  opposition. — 
The  war  with  England  seemed  to  put  a  stop  to  all  further  proceedings,  and 
many  persons  entertained  serious  doubts  of  the  practicability  of  the  under- 
taking, and  if  practicable,  whether  the  resources  of  the  state  were  competent 
to  secure  its  (Completion.  Besides  these  difficulties,  the  measure  was  opposed 
with  great  warmth  on  party  grounds.  Thus  circumstanced,  after  the  war  the 
friends  of  the  project  appeared  to  be  entirely  discouraged,  and  to  have  given 
up  all  hopes  of  the  legislature  being  induced  again  to  take  up  the  subject,  or 
to  adopt  any  measure  to  prosecute  the  scheme.  However  I  could  not  thus 
resign  a  favourite  project,  and  it  appeared  to  me  that  one  more  effort  should 
be  made;  and  Judge  Piatt  being  then  (in  the  autumn  of  1815)  in  the  city, 
holding  a  court,  I  wrote  him  a  note  inviting  him  to  breakfast  with  me  the  suc- 
ceeding morning.  He  came,  when  I  proposed  to  him,  that  if  it  met  his  ap- 
probation, I  would  undertake  to  get  up  a  public  meeting,  to  be  held  at  the 
City  Hotel,  in  order  to  urge  the  propriety  and  policy  of  offering  a  memorial 
to  the  legislature,  pressing  them  to  prosecute  the  canal  from  Erie  to  the  Hud- 
son. Judge  Piatt  readily  agreed  to  my  proposition,  and  consented  to  open 
the  business  to  the  meeting  if  one  could  be  obtained.  I  then  called  on  De 
Witt  Clinton,  who  united  with  me  in  adopting  measures  to  procure  a  public 
meeting.  Accordingly  a  large  and  respectable  meeting  was  held  at  the  City 
Hotel.  William  Bayard  was  chairman.  Judge  Piatt  made  an  introductory 
speech,  and  was  followed  by  De  Witt  Clinton,  John  Swarthout,  and  others. — 
Cadwallader  D.  Colden,  De  Witt  Clinton,  John  Swarthout,  and  myself  were 
appointed  a  committee  to  draft  a  memorial  to  the  legislature.  This  memorial 
was  drawn  up  by  De  Witt  Clinton  ;  and  from  the  masterly  manner  in  which  it 
was  written,  it  was  evident  he  had  a  complete  knowledge  of  the  subject,  and 


378 


APPENDIX. 


evinced  the  uncommon  talents  of  the  author.  It  was  signed  by  many  thou- 
sands in  this  city,  and  throughout  the  state.  With  the  legislature  it  had  the 
desired  effect,  and  was  the  means  of  establishing  the  canal  policy  on  a  firm 
basis,  and  producing  the  law  of  15th  of  April,  1817,  directing  the  work  to 
be  commenced,  which  was  accordingly  done  on  the  4th  of  July  following. 

"From  the  period  of  presenting  the  first  report  of  the  commissioners  to  the 
legislature,  in  1812,  to  the  passing  of  the  act  of  1817,  (excepting  two  years 
during  the  war  with  England,)  I  attended  the  several  sessions  of  the  legisla- 
ture for  the  purpose  of  interesting  the  members  in  favour  of  the  great  project 
of  the  proposed  canal  from  Lake  Erie  to  the  Hudson  River.  De  Witt  Clinton 
and  myself  were  uniformly  engaged  in  using  every  means  in  our  power,  bv 
distributing  pamphlets,  and  endeavouring  to  explain  to  the  members,  the  great 
value  and  importance  of  such  a  canal,  and  showing  them  the  immense  advan- 
tages the  state  would  derive,  as  to  its  agricultural  and  commercial  improve- 
ments, and  the  great  increase  of  revenue  arising  from  tolls.  We  were  en- 
couraged to  pursue  further  exertions  by  procuring  an  act,  in  1813,  which  au- 
thorised the  commissioners  to  obtain  a  loan  of  five  millions  of  dollars,  to  en- 
able the  state  to  prosecute  the  grand  undertaking.  This  act  was  afterwards 
repealed,  and  nothing  further  was  done  during  the  war,  and  from  the  period 
of  its  termination,  until  the  meeting  held  at  the  City  Hotel,  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  year  1815.  The  friends  of  the  plan  were  much  discouraged,  in 
consequence  of  the  violent  opposition  it  met  with  from  men  not  capable  of 
forming  a  correct  judgment  as  to  the  practicability  of  the  work. 

"  From  the  year  1810, 1  devoted  most  of  my  time  in  endeavouring,  in  con- 
nexion with  De  Witt  Clinton  and  Robert  Fulton,  to  enlighten  the  public  mind 
respecting  it,  by  publishing  pamphlets,  essays  in  newspapers,  &c.  &c." 


APPENDIX. 


379 


Note  X. — p.  97. 
Jonas  Piatt. 

The  following  narrative,  drawn  up  at  my  request,  and  with  which  I  have 
been  favoured  by  Judge  Piatt,  will  afford  high  gratification  to  all  who  feel  an 
interest  in  this  subject,  as  containing  not  only  an  accurate  outline  of  the  pub- 
lic measures  which  have  successively  taken  place  in  the  internal  navigation 
of  this  state,  but  as  exhibiting  a  plain  and  unaffected  statement  of  all  the 
circumstances  which  led  the  Judge,  when  a  member  of  the  senate,  to  intro- 
duce the  memorable  resolution  of  the  13th  March,  1810. 

The  following  tribute,  from  his  friend  Governor  Clinton,  inviting  him  to 
participate  in  celebrating  the  completion  of  the  Erie  canal,  bespeaks  the  ex- 
tent and  importance  of  the  services  Judge  Piatt  has  rendered,  and  the  high 
sense  entertained  of  them  by  his  fellow-citizens. 

Letter  from  De  Witt  Clinton  to  Jonas  Piatt,  Esq.  at  Utica. 

Albany,  Sept.  29,1323. 

My  dear  Sir, 

On  the  8th  of  October  the  first  canal  boat  will  pass  into  the  Hudson  at 
this  place,  and  a  celebration  will  take  place  under  the  direction  of  the  citizens 
and  corporation  of  Albany,  correspondent  with  this  auspicious  event.  Your 
signal  services  in  initiating,  and  promoting,  our  great  system  of  internal  navi- 
gation will  be  remembered  to  your  honour  when  we  are  no  more. 

Your  presence  at  the  celebration  will  be  highly  gratifying  to  your  numerous 
friends,  and  to  none  more  than  to 

Yours  sincerely  and  respectfully, 

DE  WITT  CLINTON. 

Jonas  Platt,  Esq. 


380 


APPENDIX. 


Letter  from  Jonas  Piatt,  Esq.  to  David  Hosack,  M.  D. 

New- York,  May  3,  182S. 

Dear  Sir, 

It  affords  me  great  pleasure  to  comply  with  your  request,  in  furnishing 
some  particular  facts,  within  my  own  knowledge  and  personal  observation,  re- 
lating to  the  origin  and  progress  of  the  Erie  Canal. 

The  operations  during  the  war  of  1756,  and  particularly  the  transportation 
of  the  army  and  military  stores  in  two  expeditions,  the  first  under  Colonel 
Bradstreet,  and  the  other  under  General  Prideaux,  on  the  route  of  the  Mo- 
hawk and  Wood  Creek,  Oneida  Lake  and  its  outlet,  to  Lake  Ontario,  demon- 
strated the  practicability  and  importance  of  inland  navigation  from  Schenec- 
tady to  Oswego.  The  same  channel  of  conveyance  was  in  constant  use  by 
the  fur-traders,  from  the  peace  of  1763,  till  the  revolutionary  war  of  1775. — 
It  was  then  also  well  known,  that  with  slight  impediments,  there  was  an  easy 
communication  for  batteaux,  from  the  outlet  of  Oneida  Lake  to  the  Cayuga 
and  Seneca  Lakes.  That  any  person,  since  that  period,  should  arrogate  the 
merit  of  discovering  or  projecting  that  channel  of  inland  navigation,  is  absurd 
and  ridiculous. 

The  efforts  of  Christopher  Colles,  immediately  after  the  peace  of  1783,  to 
improve  that  navigation  by  means  of  dams  and  locks,  were  highly  commend- 
able. And  the  subsequent  operations  of  the  Western  Inland  Lock  Navigation 
Company,  in  following  up  that  plan  of  improvement,  by  canalling  around  the 
Little  Falls,  and  in  connecting  the  Mohawk  and  Wood  Creek,  by  a  short  canal 
link  of  one  mile  and  a  half,  were  evidence  of  patriotic  zeal  for  public  im- 
provements. But  it  is  a  truth  which  ought  not  to  be  disguised,  that  the  gross 
errors  which  were  committed  by  the  advocates  of  that  scheme,  in  their  esti- 
mates of  the  expense,  and  of  the  profits  and  advantages  of  those  improve- 
ments, resulted  in  a  complete  failure  of  the  benefits  promised  by  its  projec- 
tors. The  whole  operations  of  the  Northern  Inland  Lock  Navigation  Com- 
pany, were  condemned  and  abandoned  as  utterly  useless.  Certain  I  am,  that 
instead  of  facilitating,  and  encouraging  subsequent  canal  operations,  the 
history  and  experience  of  the  Northern  and  Western  Inland  Lock  Navigation 


APPENDIX. 


381 


Companies,  were  powerful  impediments  to  the  enterprise  of  the  Erie  Canal. 
I  shall  never  forget  my  embarrassment,  in  answering  the  appalling  argument 
of  the  venerable  John  Tayler  in  the  senate.  "  General  Schuyler  and  Mr. 
Weston,"  said  he,  "  were  as  wise  and  skilful  as  any  of  the  new  projectors. 
We  know,  and  the  fact  is  upon  record,  that  all  their  calculations  of  expense 
and  of  tolls  were  not  only  erroneous,  but  they  erred  more  than  200  per  cent, 
in  their  estimates.  What  confidence,  therefore,  can  we  place  in  the  opinions 
and  estimates  of  the  new  projectors,  who  recommend  a  canal  over  mountains 
and  valleys  of  3G0 miles  in  extent?" 

On  the  4th  February,  1808,  on  motion  of  Joshua  Forman,  a  joint  resolution 
passed  the  legislature,  directing  the  surveyor-general  to  cause  a  survey  "  of  the 
most  eligible  and  direct  route  for  a  canal  to  open  a  communication  between 
the  tide  waters  of  the  Hudson  River  and  Lake  Erie ;  to  the  end  that  congress 
may  be  enabled  to  appropriate  such  sums  as  may  be  necessary  to  the  accom- 
plishment of  that  great  national  object."  And  the  surveys  were  directed  to 
be  transmitted  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  :  and  there,  as  might 
have  been  expected,  the  matter  ended.  That  effort  evinced  much  patriotic 
zeal,  but  the  state  of  New-York  has  reason  to  rejoice  that  the  effort  proved 
abortive.  Next  to  the  surrender  of  state  sovereignty,  it  would  have  proved 
the  greatest  sacrifice  which  the  state  could  have  made. 

As  to  the  merit  of  the  first  design  of  a  canal  directly  from  Lake  Erie  to  the 
Hudson,  it  belongs,  in  my  opinion,  exclusively,  to  no  person.  It  was  gradu- 
ally developed  to  the  minds  of  many  who  were  early  acquainted  with  the 
geography  and  topography  of  the  western  region  of  this  state.  I  knew,  in 
common  with  thousands,  at  an  early  period,  that  there  was  a  remarkable  gap 
in  the  continental  ridge  of  high  lands,  at  the  summit  of  the  Mohawk  at  Rome. 
I  knew,  from  the  estimates  of  Charlevoix  and  others,  that  Lake  Erie  was 
elevated  about  three  hundred  feet  above  Lake  Ontario ;  and  from  Mr.  Wes- 
ton's levels  and  estimates  from  Albany  to  Oswego,  I  knew  that  Rome  was 
about  140  feet  lower  than  Lake  Erie.  And  these  grand  outlines  led  the  in- 
quiring mind  to  the  conclusion,  that  a  canal  directly  from  Lake  Erie  to  the  Hud- 
son was  practicable,  if  a  sufficiency  of  water  could  be  obtained  upon  every 
intervening  summit.    My  knowledge  of  that  region  rendered  it  probable,  that 

46 


382 


APPENDIX. 


the  remarkable  succession  of  small  lakes,  throughout  the  western  district, 
known  to  be  at  a  great  elevation  above  Lake  Ontario,  and  discharging  into  it, 
might  be  used  to  feed  a  canal  from  Lake  Erie  ;  and  the  general  surface  and 
conformation  of  the  country  seemed  favourable  to  such  an  operation.  I  saw 
the  general  capabilities  of  the  natural  features  of  the  country ;  and  if  practi- 
cable, my  mind  and  heart  were  expanded  with  a  glow  of  sublime  enthusiasm, 
in  contemplating  the  magnitude  and  importance  of  the  work,  as  a  channel  of 
commerce,  and  as  a  ligament  of  union  between  the  eastern  and  western  states. 

In  this  state  of  mind  and  opinions,  I  was  elected  to  the  senate  of  this  state, 
in  1809 ;  and  early  in  the  session  of  the  ensuing  winter,  my  friend  Thomas 
Eddy,  called  on  me  at  Albany,  to  solicit  my  aid  in  the  passage  of  a  law,  to 
employ  commissioners  to  explore  a  route  for  a  canal,  from  Oneida  Lake  to 
Seneca  River,  with  a  view  to  authorize  the  Western  Inland  Lock  Navigation 
Company  to  make  such  a  canal.  After  hearing  a  full  exposition  of  his  plan, 
I  told  him,  I  rejoiced  to  find  him  moving  in  that  field  of  inquiry  ;  that  I  feared 
he  would  consider  my  ideas  v  isionary  and  extravagant,  but  that  I  had  much  to 
say  to  him  on  that  subject.  I  then  unfolded  to  him  the  plan  of  instituting  a 
board  of  commissioners  (without  reference  to  the  Western  Inland  Lock  Navi- 
gation Company,)  to  examine  and  survey  the  whole  route  from  the  Hudson  to 
Lake  Ontario,  and  to  Lake  Erie  also;  with  a  view  to  forming  a  canal,  inde- 
pendent of  the  beds  of  rivers,  and  using  them  as  feeders  merely.  Whether 
the  canal  should  be  made  directly  to  Lake  Erie,  without  descending  to  and 
ascending  from  Lake  Ontario,  must  depend  on  the  result  of  the  surveys,  and 
the  estimate  of  the  comparative  expense  and  advantages.  I  also  expressed 
to  him  my  decided  conviction,  that  no  private  corporation  was  adequate  to, 
or  ought  to  be  entrusted  with,  the  power  and  control  over  such  an  important 
object.  I  also  told  him,  that  the  Western  Inland  Lock  Navigation  Company 
had  disappointed  public  expectation  ;  and  that  it  would  be  inauspicious  to  pre- 
sent any  projet  which  should  be  subject  to  that  corporation. 

The  mind  of  that  prudent  and  excellent  man  seemed  startled  at  the  extra- 
vagance of  my  proposal.  His  first  impression  was,  that  it  would  be  thought 
so  visionary  and  gigantic,  that  the  legislature  would  not  even  deem  it  worthy  of 
consideration  or  inquiry.    We  spent  nearly  the  whole  night  in  discussing  the 


APPENDIX. 


subject,  and  at  the  close  of  our  interview,  it  was  agreed,  that  I  should  prepare 
a  resolution  conformable  to  my  views ;  and  that  he  should  call  on  me  again 
early  next  morning,  and  consider  of  it.  He  did  so  ;  and  his  mind  then  fully 
embraced  the  subject.  He  expressed  his  cordial  approbation  of  the  plan,  and 
assured  me  of  his  support. 

Mr.  Eddy  and  myself  then  designated  for  commissioners,  Gouverneur  Mor- 
ris, De  Witt  Clinton,  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  Simeon  De  Witt,  Benjamin 
Walker,  Peter  B.  Porter,  and  Thomas  Eddy.  Our  object  was  to  balance  the 
opposing  political  parties  as  nearly  as  possible,  and  to  combine  talents,  influ- 
ence, and  wealth  in  constituting  this  board  ;  and  as  De  Witt  Clinton  was  then 
a  member  of  the  senate,  possessing  a  powerful  influence  over  the  dominant 
party  in  the  state,  it  was  considered  by  Mr.  Eddy  and  myself,  of  primary  im- 
portance to  obtain  his  co-operation.  We  accordingly  requested  an  interview 
with  Mr.  Clinton,  and  unfolded  to  him  our  plan,  and  the  prominent  facts  and 
considerations  in  support  of  it:  and  I  distinctly  remember,  that  in  showing 
him  the  names  of  the  persons  we  had  proposed  as  commissioners,  I  stated  to 
Mr.  Clinton,  that  we  had  selected  men  of  wealth  and  public  spirit,  with  an 
expectation,  that  they  would  bestow  their  time  and  services  without  compen- 
sation ;  so  that  we  might  then  only  ask  an  appropriation  for  the  expenses  of  the 
engineers  and  surveyors,  who  were  to  be  employed  by  the  commissioners. 

Mr.  Clinton  listened  to  us  with  intense  interest,  and  deep  agitation  of  mind. 
He  then  said,  that  he  was  in  a  great  measure  a  stranger  to  the  western  interior 
of  our  state  ;  that  he  had  given  but  little  attention  to  the  subject  of  canal 
navigation,  but  that  the  exposition  of  our  plan  struck  his  mind  with  great 
force ;  that  he  was  then  prepared  to  say,  that  it  was  an  object  worthy  of 
thorough  examination  ;  and  that  if  I  would  move  the  resolution  in  blank, 
(without  the  names  of  the  commissioners,)  he  would  second  and  support  it. 

Stephen  Van  Rensselaer  and  Abraham  Van  Vechten  were  then  members 
of  the  House  of  Assembly.  I  immediately  called  on  them,  and  showed  them 
the  proposed  resolution,  and  the  names  intended  to  be  inserted  in  it  as  com- 
missioners. They  heartily  assented  to  it,  and  promised  to  aid  its  passage  in 
the  Assembly  :  but  Mr.  Van  Rensselaer  requested  that  his  friend  William  North 
might  be  added  as  a  commissioner,  or  substituted  for  one  of  the  others.  I 


384 


APPENDIX. 


then  went  to  the  senate  chamber,  and  moved  the  resolution  of  the  12th  March 
1810,  (as  the  journal  will  show)  with  an  introductory  speech.  Mr.  Clinton 
seconded  and  supported  it;  and  the  resolution  (in  blank)  was  unanimously 
agreed  to.  Next  morning,  I  moved  to  insert  the  names  of  Gouverneur  Morris, 
De  Witt  Clinton,  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  Simeon  De  Witt,  William  North, 
Peter  B.  Porter,  and  Thomas  Eddy,  who  were  unanimously  agreed  to  in  the 
senate,  and  the  concurrent  resolution  was  on  the  same  day,  unanimously 
adopted  in  the  Assembly. 

Mr.  Colden  in  his  Memoir,  (page  34,)  has  omitted  the  names  of  De  Witt 
Clinton  and  Simeon  De  Witt ;  and  he  says  that  the  resolution  moved  by  me 
was  brought  forward  "  on  the  suggestion  of  Thomas  Eddy.11  If  he  had  con- 
ferred with  Mr.  Eddy,  he  would  not  have  fallen  into  that  error.  An  interest- 
ing Memoir  of  the  Canal,  left  by  Mr.  Eddy,  never  published,  but  now  in  the 
possession  of  his  family,  substantially  accords  with  the  statement  I  have  here 
given.  Mr.  Eddy^  suggestion  to  me  was,  to  appoint  commissioners  to  examine 
and  report  a  plan  for  extending  the  navigation  from  Oneida  Lake  to  Seneca 
River,  with  a  view  to  enterge  the  powers  of  the  Western  Inland  Lock  Navi- 
gation Company  for  that  object.  My  answer  was,  that  the  survey  and  inquiry 
should  be  extended  from  the  Hudson  to  Lake  Ontario  and  Lake  Erie,  with 
a  view  to  a  canal  independent  of  the  beds  of  rivers  ;  and  that  the  enterprise 
if  practicable,  should  be  undertaken  by  the  government,  for  the  benefit  and 
at  the  expense  of  the  state.  Mr.  Eddy  abandoned  his  project  and  adopted 
my  suggestion. 

From  that  period  Mr.  Clinton  devoted  the  best  powers  of  his  vigorous  and 
capacious  mind  to  this  subject ;  and  he  appeared  to  grasp  and  realize  it,  as 
an  object  of  the  highest  public  utility,  and  worthy  of  his  noblest  ambition. 

The  commissioners  all  entered  with  zeal,  upon  the  duties  assigned  to  them  ; 
and  during  the  summer  of  1810,  they  explored,  with  scrutinizing  observation, 
the  surface  of  the  country,  with  the  lakes  and  rivers  connected  with  the  de- 
sign ;  and  in  the  winter  of  1811,  they  made  a  unanimous  report  in  favour  of 
a  canal  from  Lake  Erie  to  Hudson^  River,  with  an  estimate  of  the  expense. 
That  splendid  report  was  from  the  pen  of  Gouverneur  Morris,  and  is  before 
the  public. 


APPENDIX. 


385 


General  Morgan  Lewis  came  into  the  senate  in  1811,  and  then,  and  ever 
afterwards,  gave  his  warm  and  decided  support  to  the  canal ;  and  during  the 
session  of  1811,  Robert  R.  Livingston  and  Robert  Fulton  were  added  to  the 
board  of  canal  commissioners,  which  brought  a  powerful  reinforcement  of 
talent  and  influence  in  aid  of  the  contemplated  work. 

During  the  summer  of  1811,  the  commissioners  prosecuted  their  labours  of 
surveys  and  levels ;  and  in  the  course  of  a  written  correspondence  between 
Mr.  Morris,  as  president  of  the  board,  and  myself,  during  the  years  1811 
and  1812,  it  was  agreed  that  I  should  introduce  a  bill  into  the  senate  at  the 
next  session,  authorising  the  canal  commissioners  to  borrow  five  millions  of 
dollars  in  Europe,  on  the  credit  of  this  state,  as  a  fund  for  prosecuting  the 
work.  In  the  extra  session  of  June,  1812,  such  a  bill  was  accordingly  intro- 
duced by  me,  and  was  carried  into  a  law,  by  a  small  majority,  in  each  house. 
But  in  consequence  of  the  war  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain, 
of  which  the  duration  and  consequences  could  not  be  foreseen,  the  bold  mea- 
sure of  borrowing  five  millions  for  the  canal,  was  deemed  inexpedient ;  and 
by  a  nearly  unanimous  consent  of  both  houses,  thoJaw  for  that  purpose  was 
repealed  in  April  1814  ;  and  during  the  war,  the  projet  of  the  canal  was  ut- 
terly abandoned. 

Soon  after  the  war  ended,  a  consultation  was  held  between  Mr.  Clinton, 
Thomas  Eddy,  and  myself,  in  the  city  of  New-York,  for  the  purpose  of  reviv- 
ing the  enterprise  of  the  canal,  and  for  organizing  and  animating  its  friends 
throughout  the  state.  It  was  agreed  that  cards  of  invitation  should  be  ad- 
dressed to  about  one  hundred  gentlemen  of  that  city,  to  meet  at  the  City 
Hotel  to  consult  on  measures  for  that  object.  A  meeting  was  held  accord- 
ingly, at  the  City  Hotel,  in  the  autumn  of  1815,  of  which  William  Bayard 
was  chairman,  and  John  Pintard  was  secretary.  According  to  previous 
arrangement,  an  address  was  made  to  the  meeting  by  myself,  in  which  I  en- 
deavoured to  show  that  the  object  was  identified  with  the  best  interests  of  the 
state;  and  that  the  city  of  New-York  was  peculiarly  interested  in  its  accom- 
plishment. In  that  address,  I  also  pointed  at  the  stupendous  project  of  a 
canal,  on  an  uninterrupted  inclined  plane,  which  had  been  unfortunately  pro- 
posed in  the  first  report  of  the  commissioners,  and  I  urged  the  expediency  of  a 
formal  and  public  abandonment  of  that  plan,  for  the  simple  mode  (afterwards 


386 


APPENDIX. 


adopted)  of  following  the  general  surface  of  the  country  in  its  undulations.  After 
discussion,  a  resolution  was  then  passed,  approving  the  object,  and  appointing  a 
committee,  consisting  of  De  Witt  Clinton,  Thomas  Eddy,  Cadwallader  D.  Col- 
den,  and  John  Swartwout,  to  prepare  and  circulate  a  memorial  to  the  legislature 
in  favour  of  the  Erie  Canal.  A  memorial  was  drawn  and  published  accor- 
dingly. It  was  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Clinton,  and  evinced  a  perfect  knowledge 
of  the  subject,  with  a  sagacious  discernment  of  its  beneficial  results  to  the 
state  and  to  the  nation.  If  Mr.  Clinton  had  left  no  other  evidence,  that 
memorial  alone  is  sufficient  to  entitle  him  to  the  character  of  an  accomplished 
writer,  an  enlightened  statesman,  and  a  zealous  patriot. 

The  friends  of  the  canal  throughout  the  state,  rallied  under  the  standard  of 
that  memorial,  and  meetings  were  soon  after  held  in  Albany,  Utica,  Geneva, 
Canandaigua,  and  Buffalo,  to  second  and  support  the  efforts  of  the  meeting  in 
New-York ;  and  a  vigorous  impulse  was  given  to  the  public  mind  in  favour  of 
the  arduous  enterprise. 

Powerful  and  appalling  obstacles,  however,  were  presented,  in  the  honest 
doubts  and  fears  of  many  sensible  and  prudent  men  ;  in  the  rival  and  hostile 
local  interests  of  various  sections  of  the  state;  and  in  the  political  cabals,  and 
personal  hostility  to  Mr.  Clinton,  who  had  boldly  identified  himself  with  the 
canal,  and  staked  his  public  character  on  the  issue  of  the  experiment.  The 
leading  advocates  of  the  canal,  were  objects  of  ridicule  throughout  the  United 
States  :  hallucination  was  the  mildest  epithet  applied  to  them. 

The  year  1816  was  employed  in  the  examination  of  physical  obstacles,  and 
the  modes  of  obviating  or  surmounting  them  ;  in  conciliating  public  opinion  in 
favour  of  the  object,  and  in  devising  a  system  of  finance,  to  meet  the  vast  ex- 
penditures which  it  involved.  The  full  force  of  Mr.  Clinton's  mind  was 
devotedly  applied  to  these  objects. 

In  April  1817,  the  first  decisive  act  of  the  legislature  was  passed  for  com- 
mencing the  work.  By  this  act,  the  commissioners  were  directed  to  make  the 
middle  section  of  the  canal,  from  Seneca  River  to  the  Mohawk,  and  a  suitable 
appropriation  of  funds  was  made  for  the  purpose. 

The  bill  passed  each  house  by  a  very  small  majority.  But  after  its  passage 
through  the  senate  and  assembly,  it  was  subjected  to  another  severe  ordeal  in 


APPENDIX. 


:;s7 


the  council  of  revision.  Lieutenant-Governor  Taylor,  as  acting  Governor, 
was  then  president  of  the  council,  and  had  ever  been  distinguished  as  one  of 
the  ablest  and  most  formidable  opponents  of  the  canal.  The  other  attending 
members  of  the  board  were,  Chancellor  Kent,  Chief  Justice  Thompson,  Judge 
Yates,  and  myself.  After  reading  the  bill,  the  president  called  on  the  chan- 
cellor for  his  opinion.  Chancellor  Kent  said  he  had  given  very  little  attention 
to  the  subject;  that  it  appeared  to  him  like  a  gigantic  project,  which  would  re- 
quire the  wealth  of  the  United  States  to  accomplish  it ;  that  it  had  passed  the 
legislature  by  small  majorities,  after  a  desperate  struggle  ;  and  he  thought  it 
inexpedient  to  commit  the  state,  in  such  a  vast  undertaking,  until  public 
opinion  could  be  better  united  in  its  favour. 

Chief  Justice  Thompson  was  next  called  on  for  his  opinion.  He  said  he 
cherished  no  hostility  to  the  canal,  and  he  would  not  inquire  whether  the  bill 
had  passed  by  large  or  small  majorities,  and  as  the  legislature  had  agreed  to 
the  measure,  he  would  be  inclined  to  leave  the  responsibility  with  them ;  but, 
he  said,  the  bill  gave  arbitrary  powers  to  the  commissioners  over  private 
rights,  without  those  provisions  and  guards,  which,  in  his  opinion,  the  spirit  of 
the  constitution,  and  the  public  safety  required  ;  and  he  was  therefore  opposed 
to  the  bill. 

Judge  Yates  was  a  decided  friend  of  the  canal,  and  voted  for  the  bill.  My 
heart  and  voice  were  ardently  engaged  in  support  of  the  measure,  which  now 
seemed  at  a  fatal  crisis. 

The  president  of  the  council  panted  with  honest  zeal  to  strangle  the 
infant  Hercules  at  its  birth,  by  his  casting  vote  in  the  negative.  A  warm  and 
animated  discussion  arose  ;  and  afterwards  a  more  temperate  and  deliberate 
examination  of  the  bill  and  its  provisions,  obviated  in  some  measure,  the  ob- 
jections of  the  Chancellor  and  the  Chief  Justice.  Near  the  close  of  the  debate, 
Vice-president  Tompkins  came  into  the  council  chamber,  and  took  his  seat 
familiarly  among  us.  He  joined  in  the  argument,  which  was  informal  and 
desultory.  He  expressed  a  decided  opinion  against  the  bill  ;  and  among  other 
reasons,  he  stated,  that  the  late  peace  with  Great  Britain  was  a  mere  truce  ; 
that  we  should  undoubtedly  soon  have  a  renewed  war  with  that  country  ;  and 
that  instead  of  wasting  the  credit  and  resources  of  the  state,  in  this  chimerical 
project,  we  ought  immediately  to  employ  all  the  revenue  and  credit  of  the 


388 


APPENDIX. 


« 


state,  in  providing  arsenals,  arming  the  militia,  erecting  fortifications,  and 
preparing  for  war.  "  Do  you  think  so,  sir  ?"  said  Chancellor  Kent.  "  Yes, 
sir,11  was  the  reply  ;  "  England  will  never  forgive  us,  for  our  victories  on  the 
land,  and  on  the  ocean  and  the  lakes  ;  and  my  word  for  it,  we  shall  have 
another  war  with  her,  within  two  years.11  The  Chancellor  then  rising  from 
his  seat,  with  great  animation  declared,  "if  we  must  have  war,  or  have  a 
canal,  I  am  in  favour  of  the  canal,  and  I  vote  for  this  bill."  His  voice  gave  us 
the  majority ;  and  so  the  bill  became  a  law. 

If  that  bill  had  been  rejected  by  the  council,  it  could  not  have  been  carried 
by  two-thirds  of  the  senate  and  assembly  ;  and  from  the  personal  hostility  to 
Mr.  Clinton,  the  great  champion  of  the  canal,  combined  with  other  causes  of 
opposition,  it  is  probable,  that  this  magnificent  enterprise  could  never  since 
have  obtained  the  sanction  of  the  legislature.  At  no  future  period  could  the 
work  have  been  accomplished  at  so  small  an  expense  of  land,  of  water,  and 
hydraulic  privileges.  Rival  routes,  and  local  interests,  were  daily  increasing 
and  combining  against  the  projet :  and  in  my  estimation,  it  was  one  of  the 
chief  grounds  of  merit  in  the  advocates  of  the  Erie  Canal,  that  they  seized  on 
the  very  moment  most  proper  and  auspicious  for  that  immortal  work. 

As  to  the  subsequent  measures  and  operations,  till  the  successful  comple- 
tion of  the  Erie  and  Champlain  Canals,  with  the  firm,  bold,  and  efficient  sup- 
port, uniformly  given  by  Governor  Clinton,  they  are  matters  of  history  and 
of  public  record. 

Whether  the  early  projectors  adopted  and  pursued  the  means  best  calcu- 
lated to  promote  and  effectuate  the  object,  the  , public  must  judge.  My 
humble  efforts  have  been  rewarded,  by  seeing  the  great  work  accomplished 
with  complete  success :  and  I  have  also  the  proud  satisfaction  of  reflecting, 
that  my  name  has  never  appeared  among  the  clamorous  competitors  for 
fame  or  public  gratitude. 

I  have  only  to  beg  you,  to  excuse  the  egotism  of  this  memoir.    My  apology 
is,  that  a  compliance  with  your  request,  seemed  to  render  it  indispensable. 
With  great  respect, 

Your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 

JONAS  PLATT. 

Dr.  David  Hosaok. 


APPENDIX. 


389 


Notk. — p.  97. 

Knowing  that  our  learned  countryman,  Dr.  Samuel  L.  Mitchill,  had  not 
only  been  the  intimate  and  personal  friend  of  the  subject  of  this  Memoir,  as 
appears  from  his  interesting  eulogium,  pronounced  at  the  request  of  the  Lyceum 
of  Natural  History,  but  had  also  been  a  member  of  the  house  of  assembly  of 
this  state  in  the  year  1810,  during  the  memorable  proceedings  relative  to 
canal  navigation,  I  addressed  a  note  to  the  Doctor,  soliciting  such  information 
as  he  might  possess  upon  that  subject.  In  reply  to  this  request,  I  have  been 
favoured  with  the  following  communication,  which  contains  some  interesting 
particulars,  and  reflects  no  inconsiderable  light  upon  the  events  to  which  it 
relates. 

"  Notices  of  certain  events  connected  with  the  History  of  the  Canal  in  the 
State  of  New-York,  uniting  the  Hudson  with  Lake  Erie.  In  a  letter  from 
Samuel  L.  Mitchill,  late  a  member  of  the  New-  York  Legislature,  to  David 
Hosack,  author  of  a  Discourse  on  De  Witt  Clinton.'''' 

New-York,  November  15th,  1828. 

Dear  Sir, 

I  remember  to  have  made  you  an  acknowledgment  of  the  gratifica- 
tion I  received  from  hearing  your  Discourse  concerning  the  late  Governor 
Clinton,  on  the  8th  inst.  After  the  circumstantial  display  you  gave  of  the 
events  relative  to  the  great  western  canal,  it  was  scarcely  to  be  supposed  that 
any  additional  research  would  have  been  expected.  But,  on  receiving  your 
verbal  communication,  and  written  request  of  the  10th,  certain  proceedings 
and  doings  were  brought  to  my  recollection,  which  I  have  now  the  pleasure 
of  submitting  to  you.  In  my  own  opinion,  they  are  calculated  to  throw  strong 
light  upon  the  subject. 

After  a  service  of  eight  years  in  congress,  three  in  the  house  of  representa- 
tives and  five  in  the  senate,  including  the  time  to  the  end  of  Mr.  Jefferson's 
administration.    I  returned  home  to  the  city  of  New-York  in  March  1809. 

47 


390 


APPENDIX. 


My  term  in  the  national  legislature  having  thus  expired,  my  fellow-citizens 
insisted  on  nominating  me  once  more  to  the  assembly  of  the  state.  At  that 
time  the  annual  election  was  held  near  the  end  of  April.  I  was  chosen,  and 
of  course  was  obliged  to  prepare  myself  for  taking  my  seat  at  Albany  the  en- 
suing winter. 

In  order  to  qualify  myself  the  better  for  the  performance  of  my  duties,  I 
concluded  to  make  a  tour  of  observation  and  instruction  through  some  of  the 
internal  counties  during  the  summer  of  1809.  In  order  to  witness  the  progress 
and  actual  state  of  society  since  my  last  preceding  visit,  I  went  at  a  leisurely 
and  moderate  rate,  stopping  to  inspect  as  many  objects  as  I  conveniently  could. 
In  this  manner  I  proceeded  from  Albany  to  Buffalo,  and  crossing  from  Black  to 
Bertie,  in  Upper  Canada,  took  a  temporary  residence  on  the  banks  of  the 
Chippewa  River,  and  made  excursions  to  the  cataract  of  Niagara,  and  other 
places  in  the  vicinity. 

On  returning  I  varied  my  route  in  different  directions,  that  I  might  see  as 
much  as  possible.  I  came  back  exceedingly  well  pleased  with  my  performance. 
I  flattered  myself  I  had  obtained  a  valuable  portion  of  knowledge,  relative  to 
the  interesting  region  I  had  traversed.  I  had  on  a  former  occasion  travelled 
to  Oswego,  by  the  way  of  Oneida  Lake  and  Onondaga  River. 

Thus  prepared,  I  found  myself  ready  during  the  legislative  session  of  1810, 
to  discuss  with  the  representatives  of  the  western  counties,  a  number  of  local 
questions,  like  a  man  who  had  inquired  for  himself,  in  places  where  genuine 
intelligence  could  be  got. 

You  will  find  a  mighty  impulse  given  to  the  future  grand  work  of  the  canal, 
while  not  as  yet  matured  in  the  mind  of  any  man,  during  this  important  ses- 
sion. A  sketch  of  the  initiatory  operations  will  probably  be  sufficient  for 
vour  purpose,  as  you  are  so  fully  informed  on  the  subsequent  transactions. 

On  the  21st  of  February,  1810,  a  memorial,  under  the  name  of  a  report, 
was  presented  to  the  senate  in  behalf  of  the  Western  Inland  Lock  Navigation 
Company.  It  was  subscribed  by  Robert  Bowne,  as  president  of  the  board, 
and  may  be  found  at  length  in  the  journals  of  that  day.  It  states  among  other 
matters,  the  improvements  made  in  the  navigation  of  the  Mohawk  River,  and 
that  the  canals  and  locks  at  the  Little  Falls,  German  Flats,  Rome,  and  Wood 
Creek,  had  already  produced  incalculable  advantages  to  the  agricultural 


APPEiNUIX. 


391 


interests  of  the  state.  The  directors  in  prosecuting  the  work,  had  expended 
before  that  time,  all  the  monies  due  from  the  stockholders,  the  whole  amount 
received  for  tolls,  and  were,  besides,  ten  thousand  dollars  in  debt.  They  had 
not  received  any  profit  on  the  capital  for  eighteen  years.  And  they  solicited 
the  legislature  to  relinquish  for  a  number  of  years,  all  the  dividends  that  might 
be  due  on  the  shares  held  by  the  state,  and  further,  to  grant  such  other  relief 
as  might  seem  just  and  reasonable.  They  urged  in  favour  of  the  object 
prayed  for,  the  increase  of  exports  through  Lake  Ontario  to  Canada,  to  the 
serious  and  increasing  loss  of  the  New-York  market. 

On  the  23d  February,  the  petition  of  Stephen  N.  Bayard  was  read,  praying 
that  he  and  his  associates  might  be  incorporated  for  the  purpose  of  canalling 
the  outlet  of  the  Seneca  Lake,  and  asking  funds. 

The  same  day  the  petition  of  Noah  Preston,  and  others,  was  offered,  beg- 
ging a  sum  of  money  for  deepening  the  outlet  of  the  Oneida  Lake. 

There  were  some  other  applications  of  a  similar  tendency  all  which  had 
been  referred  to  a  select  committee.  At  length,  after  such  an  accumulation 
of  papers,  on  the  1st  day  of  March,  Jonas  Piatt,  the  chairman,  moved  that  the 
committee  be  discharged  from  the  further  consideration  thereof.  This  being 
ordered  by  the  senate,  he  moved  a  joint  resolve  in  these  words  : 

"  Resolved, — (if  the  honourable  the  assembly  concur  herein)  that  a  joint 
committee  of  the  senate  and  assembly  be  appointed,  to  consider  and  report 
upon  the  several  petitions  of  the  president  and  directors  of  the  Western  Inland 
Lock  Navigation  Company  ;  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  counties  of  Oneida, 
Madison,  and  Onondaga  ;  of  the  inhabitants  of  Albany  ;  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Schnectady  ;  and  of  Stephen  N.  Bayard,  and  others,  relative  to  certain  ex- 
tensions and  improvements  of  the  inland  navigation  of  the  state  ;  and  that  in 
case  of  such  concurrence,  Mr.  Piatt,  Mr.  Clinton,  and  Mr.  Rea,  be  the  com- 
mittee on  the  part  of  the  senate,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  journal  of  that  body, 
for  the  thirty-third  session,  on  pages  72  and  73.  This  was  adopted  by  the 
assembly  on  the  same  day,  and  Mr.  Mitchill,  Mr.  Van  Vechten,  Mr.  Brooks, 
Mr.  Skinner,  and  Mr.  Chapin,  were  appointed  the  committee  on  the  part  of 
the  house.  The  deliberations  of  this  joint  committee  gave  rise  to  the  ensuing 
memorable  proceeding  of  the  senate,  on  the  13th  March,  1810. 


392 


APPENDIX. 


On  motion  of  Mr.  Piatt,  the  following  resolution,  with  the  recitals,  was  read 
and  passed,  viz. 

"  Whereas  the  agricultural  and  commercial  interests  of  the  state,  require 
that  the  inland  navigation  from  the  Hudson  River  to  Lake  Ontario  and  Lake 
Erie,  be  improved  and  completed  on  a  scale  commensurate  with  the  great 
advantages  to  be  derived  from  the  accomplishment  of  that  important  object ; 
and  whereas,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  resources  of  the  Western  Inland  Lock 
Navigation  Company  are  adequate  to  such  an  improvement,  therefore, 

"  Resolved, — (if  the  honourable  the  assembly  concur  herein)  that  Gouver- 
neur  Morris,  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  De  Witt  Clinton,  Simeon  De  Witt, 
William  North,  Thomas  Eddy,  and  Peter  B.  Porter,  be  and  they  hereby  are 
appointed  commissioners  for  exploring  the  whole  route,  examining  the 
present  condition  of  the  said  navigation,  and  considering  what  further  im- 
provements ought  to  be  made  therein  ;  and  that  they  be  authorised  to  direct 
and  procure  such  surveys,  as  to  them  shall  appear  necessary  and  proper  in 
relation  to  these  objects ;  and  that  they  report  thereon  to  the  legislature  at 
their  next  session,  presenting  a  full  view  of  the  subjects  referred  to  them,  with 
their  estimates  and  opinion  thereon."  This  was  concurred  in  by  the  assembly  in 
a  way  that  I  thought  very  remarkable,  for  there  was  no  attempt  to  amend, 
nor  was  there  a  single  word  of  debate.  The  day  was  the  13th  of  March.  A 
place  in  this  commission  was  offered  me,  but  I  declined  it. 

Among  the  causes  predisposing  to  those  important  events,  there  was  one 
that  deserves  to  be  particularly  stated.  It  relates  to  transportation  up  and 
down  the  Mohawk  River.  This  stream  is  noted  for  its  great  swell  during 
rainy  seasons,  and  its  depression  during  the  prevalence  of  drought.  Owing 
to  the  proclivity  of  its  bed,  the  floods  descend  with  suddenness  and  impetu- 
osity, carrying  all  before  them,  and  rendering  it  difficult  or  even  impossible  for 
boats  to  make  head  against  it.  Sometimes  it  overflows  the  adjoining  fields, 
and  then  again  it  shrinks  to  scanty  and  in  many  places  a  shallow  current. — 
These  difficulties  became  more  and  more  serious,  in  proportion  to  the  increase 
of  population,  and  to  the  corresponding  conveyance  of  produce  and  mer- 
chandize.   The  inhabitants  turned  their  attention  to  the  improvement  of  roads 


APPENDIX. 


393 


and  the  construction  of  bridges  ;  and  by  many  the  carriage  by  land,  on  ac- 
count chiefly  of  its  greater  certainty,  was  preferred  to  that  by  water.  This 
change  wrought  a  disastrous  effect  upon  the  company's  stock.  The  desertion 
of  the  river  by  so  many  persons  and  so  much  property,  rendered  it  necessary 
to  lower  the  rate  of  toll.  Thus  the  receipts,  impoverishing!)'  small  before,  were 
rendered  more  diminutive.  But  the  inconvenience  of  the  river,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  carrying  on  an  active  business,  would  not  have  been  removed  had 
the  toll  been  remitted  altogether.  The  uncertainty  of  the  arrivals  and  depar- 
tures of  boats,  would  have  remained  with  all  the  incidental  embarrassments. 
In  this  state  of  things  I  arrived  at  Utica,  on  my  return  from  the  before  men- 
tioned expedition.  For  the  sake  of  diversifying  my  route,  and  of  enjoying 
the  picturesque  scenery  of  the  Mohawk  from  its  channel,  I  wished  a  passage 
to  Schenectady  by  water,  as  I  had  on  my  westward  course  proceeded  by  land. 
I  went  to  the  rendezvous  of  the  river  boats,  with  the  intention  of  hiring  one 
for  the  accommodation  of  myself,  my  wife,  and  company.  There  were  only 
three  batteaux  at  the  station.  Surprised  at  their  inconsiderable  number,  I 
inquired  what  was  the  meaning  of  it,  and  was  told  that  there  was  very  little 
employment  for  them  on  the  Mohawk  River,  and  that  the  greater  portion  of 
them  had  gone  to  Lake  Ontario,  where  there  was  plenty  of  business.  Indeed 
I  could  not  get  a  boat  without  more  delay  than  was  expedient,  and  so  pursued 
my  journey  by  land.  This  occurrence  led  me  to  make  further  inquiries  of  the 
dealers  and  traders  in  the  village.  The  sum  of  the  intelligence  was  this  : 
The  unavoidable  irregularity  of  carrying  on  business,  and  occasional  risk  and 
loss,  terminated  in  performing  the  transportation  to  and  from  Albany,  chiefly 
in  wagons.  In  the  actual  condition  of  the  roads  and  bridges,  the  owner  of 
a  team  could  calculate  almost  to  an  hour  when  the  load  would  reach  its  des- 
tination ;  and  relying  on  the  punctuality  of  his  agent,  and  the  fidelity  of  his 
driver,  he  could  predict  with  equal  certainty  when  the  vehicle,  with  its  charge, 
might  be  expected  back.  By  this  means,  despatch  and  punctuality  were  in- 
troduced— the  phenomenon  exhibited  of  land  carriage  being  more  economi- 
cal than  water  carriage. 

Yet,  though  the  company  failed  to  accomplish  their  original  object,  their  ef- 
forts established  two  most  important  practical  facts. 


394 


APPENDIX. 


1.  That  as  the  distinguished  engineer  Brindley  is  reported  to  have  said, 
rivers  are  to  be  considered  as  the  feeders  of  canals,  and  not  as  canals  them- 
selves. 

2.  That  it  was  incorrect  to  import  engineers  from  Europe,  when  they  might 
be  found  or  formed  among  our  native  citizens  with  superior  qualifications  for 
service. 

Another  impulse  was  given  to  this  investigation,  by  the  conviction  that  all 
the  productions  of  our  industry  intended  for  exportation,  that  found  their  way 
into  Lake  Ontario,  would  be  lost  to  Albany  and  New-York  city,  and  would  be 
conveyed  to  foreign  markets  by  the  river  St.  Lawrence,  the  capacious  natural 
outlet.  It  was,  therefore,  an  impolitic  measure  to  increase  the  facilities  for 
enabling  our  citizens  to  carry  articles  to  Ontario  Lake  ;  and,  consequently, 
the  projects  for  making  locks  at  Niagara  and  Oswego  Falls  ought  to  be  aban- 
doned by  the  legislature ;  more  especially  as  the  fur  trade,  formerly  deemed 
very  important,  had,  along  the  lower  waters,  dwindled  almost  to  nothing. 

I  urged  these  matters  to  the  gentlemen  with  whom  I  was  associated,  under 
a  conviction  that  some  other  plan  was  needful,  and  indeed  loudly  called  for. 

Thus  have  I  attempted  to  comply  with  your  wish.  I  hope  the  effort  will 
add  a  few  links  to  the  chain  of  history.  I  rejoice  that  you  prompted  me  to  a 
search  which  has  been  more  successful  than  I  anticipated.  I  shall  be  happy  to 
learn  that  it  has  not  disappointed  your  expectations. 

Yours,  with  the  sentiment  of  much  good  feeling, 

SAMUEL  L.  MITCHILL. 

To  David  Hosack,  M.  D. 


Note  Y.— p.  101. 

The  following  letter,  with  which  I  have  been  favoured,  from  the  Honourable 
Edward  P.  Livingston,  who  was  uniformly  the  friend  and  active  supporter  of 
the  canal  policy  of  the  state,  contains  some  interesting  particulars  relative  to 
the  late  Chancellor  Livingston,  which  entitle  it  to  a  place  in  these  records. 


APPENDIX. 


395 


Letter  from  the  Hon.  Edward  P.  Livingston  to  David  Hosack,  M.  D. 

New- York,  April  14,  182S. 

Dear  Sir, 

I  promised  to  communicate  to  you  my  recollections  of  the  proceedings 
relative  to  the  Erie  Canal,  whilst  I  was  a  member  of  the  senate  between  July 
1808  and  July  1812,  and  to  mention  those  gentlemen  who  were  then  most  ac- 
tively engaged  in  supporting  the  plans  for  its  accomplishment.  The  public 
documents  will  inform  you  of  the  dates  when  the  various  relations  and  laws 
were  passed  ;  I  will  now  briefly  state  some  facts  which  they  cannot  fur- 
nish. 

The  report  of  Mr.  Geddes  in  1809  led  the  public  mind  more  generally  to 
think  on  this  subject,  and  in  1810,  Mr.  Piatt  introduced  his  resolutions  into 
the  senate.  Conflicting  opinions  and  interests  divided  the  legislature,  and  no 
doubt  most  of  those  who  opposed  any  further  proceedings  were  actuated  by  the 
purest  and  most  patriotic  motives,  believing  the  whole  project  to  be  entirely 
visionary.  My  reflections,  and  some  little  knowledge  acquired  by  a  visit  to 
Europe,  induced  me  to  think  it  wise  to  make  the  necessary  surveys  and  ex- 
aminations, and  I  had  the  honour  of  supporting  with  my  best  endeavours  the 
resolutions  above  mentioned.  The  remarks  I  made  drew  from  a  venerable 
member  the  observation,  that  "  the  young  men  in  that  body  would  ruin  the 
state,  by  involving  it  in  a  debt  which  we  could  never  liquidate."  The  senate 
was  then  divided  into  three  parties  or  sections,  one  called  Clintonian,  one 
Federal,  and  one  consisting  of  those  republican  friends  of  Mr.  Madison,  with 
whom  I  acted.  The  support  given  to  the  resolutions  by  Mr.  Piatt,  Mr.  Clin- 
ton, and  myself,  and  other  gentlemen  avowing  different  political  connexions, 
shows  that  the  measures  proposed  to  be  adopted  were  not  to  be  decided  by 
any  spirit  of  party  ;  and  it  was  probably  owing  to  this  circumstance  that  those 
resolutions  passed,  and  which  I  ever  considered  as  a  most  important  step 
towards  ensuring  the  success  of  the  undertaking.  Whether  General  Lewis 
was  a  member  of  that  session  1  do  not  recollect,  and  have  not  the  journals 


396 


APPENDIX. 


to  refer  to  ;*  he  was,  however,  friendly  to  the  canal,  and  particularly  engaged 
in  1811,  in  forwarding  the  object. 

A  bill  was  brought  in  by  Mr.  Clinton  in  1811,  to  which  I  was  favourably 
disposed,  but  believe  I  was  not  present  at  its  passage,  having  been  called  home 
by  the  death  of  an  infant  son,  and  was  there  detained  by  the  illness  and  sub- 
sequent decease  of  my  eldest. 

To  the  commissioners  who  were  first  appointed,  were  added  Chancellor 
Livingston  and  Mr.  Fulton.  With  these  gentlemen  I  frequently  conversed 
on  the  subject  of  our  internal  navigation  ;  and  although  they  were  much  oc- 
cupied with  their  steam-boats,  and  harassed  by  a  powerful  opposition  and  its 
consequences,  yet  they  were  not  inattentive  to  the  great  enterprise.  Chan- 
cellor Livingston  was  desirous  that  steps  should  be  taken  early  to  procure 
funds,  and  at  his  suggestion  authority  was  given  to  make  inquiries  relative  to 
a  loan ;  and  I  well  recollect  his  stating,  that  a  large  one  could  be  obtained  in 
Europe,  at  an  interest  not  exceeding  five  per  cent,  and  that  we  ought  to  se- 
cure it  as  all  important  to  our  success.  He  mentioned  the  name  of  the  late 
William  Bayard  as  affording  the  information,  or  able  to  effect  the  negotiations 
for  obtaining  the  funds  ;  and  when  the  situation  of  affairs  after  that  period  ren- 
dered doubtful  the  progress  of  the  work,  I  recollect  Mr.  Livingston  saying,  that  if 
we  did  not  want  it,  that  the  United  States  would  gladly  take  it  from  us,  par- 
ticularly in  case  of  a  war,  then  very  probable.  At  this  period  almost  all  Mr. 
Livingston's  landed  estates,  and  much  of  that  belonging  to  General  Lewis, 
were  situated  in  the  middle  district,  which  went  no  further  north  than  Greene 
and  Columbia  counties  ;  still  they  hesitated  not  to  support  an  undertaking  pro- 
mising great  public  good,  though  certainly  detrimental  to  themselves.  The 
difference  to  Chancellor  Livingston  I  consider  not  less  than  one  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars. 

Among  the  number  of  those  with  whom  I  frequently  conversed  on  this  sub- 
ject, and  with  whom  I  was  on  very  friendly  terms  of  acquaintance,  I  may 
mention  Gouverneur  Morris,  Thomas  Eddy,  and  J.  R.  Van  Rensselaer,  in  addi- 
tion to  those  I  have  already  named. 


*  General  Lewis  took  his  seat  in  the  Senate  in  1811 — D.  H. 


APPENDIX. 


397 


After  the  war  and  when  a  successor  to  Gov.  Tompkins  was  to  be  chosen,  the 
general  voice  of  the  west  declared,  that  the  question  of  being  friendly  to  the 
canal  or  not,  would  be  the  most  important  one  ;  and  afterwards  the  union  of 
that  enterprising  region  with  the  north,  and  the  support  of  its  friends  else- 
where, caused  the  great  work  to  be  completed. 

When  last  a  member  of  the  senate,  I  voted  for  appropriations  to  complete 
it,  and  had  the  satisfaction  of  witnessing  the  entrance  of  the  first  boat  into  the 
waters  of  the  Hudson,  from  the  deck  of  one  of  our  steam-boats,  and  within 
a  short  distance  of  the  spot  where,  in  1807, 1  had  landed  in  company  with  Mr. 
Livingston  and  Mr.  Fulton. 

I  have  said  nothing  of  Mr.  Clinton,  as  you  are  well  acquainted  with  his  pro- 
ceedings  relative  to  the  canal.  Allow  me,  however,  to  observe  to  you,  that  it 
afforded  me  pleasure  when  I  could  co-operate  with  him  in  public  measures, 
and  regret  when  a  sense  of  duty  called  on  me  to  oppose  him.  From  his  uncle, 
who  was  well  acquainted  with  my  father  and  grandfather,  I  had  received  the 
appointment  of  an  aid-de-camp,  with  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel,  in  1801  ; 
and  his  being  my  senior  by  several  years,  and  acting  under  more  favourable 
circumstances,  excluded  the  probability  of  collision.  Yet  among  his  political 
friends  and  admirers,  have  been  my  warmest  opponents,  who  manifested  their 
hostility  even  before  I  was  in  the  senate.  1  do  not  know  that  any  thing  above 
stated  will  be  new  to  you.  I  am  happy,  however,  to  have  had  an  opportunity 
of  mentioning  the  interest  taken  in  the  advancement  of  our  internal  improve- 
ments by  one  whom  I  am  proud  to  acknowledge  as  my  best  friend  and  second 
parent;  and  as  it  was  among  the  last  acts  of  a  useful  life,  I  am  convinced  it 
will  add  to  his  other  claims  of  a  public  benefactor. 

With  much  regard,  I  am  your  obedient  servant, 

EDWARD  P.  LIVINGSTON. 

To  Dr.  David  Hosack. 


When  noticing  the  services  of  the  late  Chancellor  Livingston,  we  naturally 
advert  to  those  of  his  associate  and  friend,  the  late  Robert  Fulton,  who,  inde- 
pendently of  his  well  known  treatise  on  canal  navigation,  published  in  Lon- 
48 


398 


APPENDIX. 


don  as  early  as  1796,  has  also  by  his  genius  and  enterprise  applied  to  the 
canals  of  this  state,  largely  contributed  to  direct  the  public  mind  to  the  mea- 
sures which  have  been  adopted,  and  which,  to  use  his  own  language,  are  "  to 
secure  wealth,  ease,  and  happiness  to  millions."  In  the  preceding  pages  his 
correspondence  with  Mr.  Gouverneur  Morris,  and  with  Mr.  Gallatin,  relative 
to  the  superior  advantages  of  canals  over  roads,  and  the  great  revenue  to  be 
derived  from  them,  has  been  already  mentioned.  Referring,  therefore,  to  the 
admirable  biography  of  Mr.  Fulton  by  his  friend  Cadwallader  D.  Colden,  the 
interesting  tribute  to  his  talents  by  Governor  Clinton,*  and  the  splendid  eulogy 
pronounced  upon  his  merits  in  the  application  of  steam  to  the  purposes  of 
navigation  by  Mr.  Morris,t  we  may,  in  the  language  of  a  spirited  writer  in  the 
North  American  Review,!  observe  of  Robert  Fulton,  that  "  among  the  enlight- 
ened friends  of  the  canal  policy  of  the  state,  he  is  a  man  whose  name  is  iden- 
tified with  that  of  his  country,  whose  inventions,  valuable  as  they  are,  were 
only  the  earnest  of  what  he  contemplated,  whose  benefactions  to  his  country 
will  be  celebrated  by  every  American,  as  long  as  the  Mississippi  shall  bear  her 
floating  palaces  upon  her  bosom,  or  roll  her  rich  tribute  to  the  ocean." 


Note  Z.— p.  102. 

The  circumstances  which  relate  to  the  unsuccessful  application  made  to 
the  general  government  on  the  part  of  the  state  of  New-York,  for  that  assis- 
tance in  the  construction  of  the  contemplated  canals  which  the  message  of 
Mr.  Jefferson,  and  the  report  of  Mr.  Gallatin,  had  led  them  to  believe  would 
be  readily  accorded,  are  well  known.  In  the  Memoir  of  Mr.  Colden,  in 
the  Documents  published  by  Mr.  Haines,  and  in  the  Canal  Documents  pub- 
lished under  the  direction  of  the  state,  they  are  so  fully  detailed,  that  no  fur- 
ther notice  of  them  is  called  for  in  this  place.    But  the  attempt  on  the  part  of 


*  Discourse  before  the  Academy  of  Arts. 

t  Inaugural  Discourse  before  the  New- York  Historical  Society- 
t  Vol.  IV.  p.  236. 


APPENDIX. 


the  general  government,  to  impose  a  tax  upon  the  trade  of  the  canal,  and  to 
compel  those  who  conducted  it  to  take  custom-house  licenses  for  that  purpose, 
ought  not  to  be  forgotten. 

In  the  language  of  Mr.  Colden,*  "  we  have  yet  one  .'nimble  petition  to  make  to  congress. 
That  having  mado  our  canals  without  their  interference,  they  will  be  pleased  to  leave  us  to 
enjoy  them  ;  and  that  they  will  not  sanction  any  such  pretension,  as  was  of  late  made  by 
some  of  their  revenue  officers,  that  our  canal-boats,  traversing  our  hills  and  valleys,  in  an 
artificial  channel  made  by  ourselves,  entirely  within  our  own  territory,  hundreds  of  miles 
from  the  sea,  and  six  or  seven  hundred  feet  above  its  level,  were  engaged  in  the  coasting 
trade  of  the  United  States ;  that  they  must  therefore  take  custom-house  licences,  and  pay 
a  tax  to  the  general  government.  An  act  of  congress  has  been  passed,  exempting  boats 
employed  wholly  on  the  canals,  from  the  necessity  of  paying  this  tax,  yet  the  claim  of  a  right, 
to  impose  it  seems  to  be  reserved.  But  so  long  as  any  respect  for  state  sovereignties  re- 
mains, so  long  as  the  confederacy  is  considered  of  any  value,  and  so  long  as  there  is  any 
regard  for  the  peace  of  the  Union,  it  is  hoped  there  will  be  no  attempt  to  enforce  this,  or 
any  similar  claim." 

The  observations  of  Governor  Clinton  on  this  subject,  contained  in  his  mes- 
sage of  1825,  and  the  remarks  of  General  Tallmadge  in  his  able  and  eloquent 
speech,  delivered  in  the  House  of  Assembly  on  the  8th  of  November,  1824, 
expose,  in  the  most  ample  manner,  the  injustice  of  the  measure  proposed  by 
congress. 

The  following  are  the  remarks  of  Governor  Clinton  on  this  subject. 

I  cannot  pass  over,  in  silence,  the  attempt  which  has  been  recently  made  to  bring  the 
boats  navigating  our  canals,  within  the  operation  of  the  statutes  for  regulating  the  coasting 
trade  of  the  United  States,  by  requiring  from  such  boats  enrolment  and  license,  and  the 
payment  of  tonnage  duties.  The  canals  are  the  property  of  the  state,  are  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  state,  have  been  constructed  by  the  state,  and  can  be  destroyed  by  the 
state.  They  have  been  made  at  its  expense,  after  the  general  government  had  refused  all 
participation  and  assistance.    It  cannot  well  be  perceived  how  the  regulation  of  commerce 


*  See  his  Memoir,  page  38. 


400 


APPENDIX. 


"  with  foreign  nations,  and  among  the  several  states,  or  with  the  Indian  tribes,"  can  authorise 
an  interference  with  vessels  prosecuting  an  inland  trade,  through  artificial  channels.  The 
coasting  trade  is  entirely  distinct  from  a  trade  through  our  canals,  which  no  state  in  the 
union,  nor  the  general  government  itself,  has  a  right  to  enjoy,  without  our  consent.  The 
consequences  of  such  assumptions  would  be,  if  carried  into  effect,  to  annihilate  our  revenue 
arising  from  tolls,  to  produce  the  most  oppressive  measures,  to  destroy  the  whole  system  of 
internal  improvements,  and  to  prostrate  the  authority  of  the  state  governments. 

A  just  exposition  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  cannot  authorise  their  application  to 
such  cases.  But  if  a  different  interpretation  should  prevail,  then  it  becomes  a  very  serious 
question  indeed,  whether  the  state  can  enforce  its  laws  imposing  tolls.  The  supreme  court 
of  the  United  States  has  solemnly  adjudged,  that  a  coasting  license  from  a  collector  is  a  grant 
of  the  right  of  navigation.  If  so,  and  that  right  being  derived  from  a  law  of  congress,  it 
will  be  contended  that  it  cannot  be  prohibited  nor  controlled  by  any  state  law ;  the  right  to 
be  complete,  must  be  enjoyed  without  restraint.  The  state  cannot  demand  a  toll,  as  the 
price  of  the  enjoyment  of  such  a  right,  if  it  has  not  the  power  to  prohibit  such  enjoyment 
altogether. 

It  may  be  further  remarked,  that  the  power  to  regulate  commerce,  among  the  states, 
under  which  the  act  regulating  the  coasting  trade  was  passed,  is  held  by  that  high  tribunal, 
to  be  exclusively  in  congress — If  so,  and  if  that  act,  or  any  other  act,  which  congress  may 
pass,  under  that  power,  can  be  applied  to  the  canals,  it  would  follow,  as  a  consequence,  that 
our  laws  imposing  tolls,  are  void  from  the  beginning.  The  state  has  no  power  to  adopt  them ; 
and  in  this  view  of  the  subject,  it  would  seem  to  be  immaterial  whether  any  license  be  taken 
out  under  the  act  of  congress. 

The  supreme  court  has  also  declared,  that  the  power  to  regulate  commerce  includes  a 
power  to  regulate  navigation,  as  one  means  of  carrying  on  commerce.  The  same  remark 
may  be  made  with  equal  force,  concerning  any  kind  of  transportation,  whether  by  land  or 
water,  the  power  to  regulate  commerce  applying  to  the  one  as  well  as  to  the  other.  If  congress 
can  declare,  that  a  boat  passing  between  different  parts  of  the  same  district,  within  the 
same  state,  shall  take  a  license,  why  can  it  not  direct  that  a  waggon  shall  take  one,  under 
similar  circumstances?  When  we  shall  have  arrived  at  this  point,  we  shall  begin  to  have 
some  adequate  notion  of  the  extent  to  which  this  claim  may  be  carried. 

I  shall  say  no  more  on  this  subject  at  this  time.  I  will  not  entertain  a  doubt  but  that  the 
national  government  will  command  the  abandonment  of  a  claim  so  unfounded  and  pernicious; 
and  I  am  persuaded  that  it  has  been  preferred  without  due  reflection,  and  without  instructions 
from  superior  authority.  But  if  this  course  shall  not  be  pursued,  it  will  then  be  your  duty 
to  take  that  stand  which  the  rights  and  safety  of  the  people  imperiously  demand. 


APPENDIX. 


401 


Speech  of  General  James  Tallmadge. 

in  assembly,  November  8, 1824. 

Mr.  Tallmadge  called  for  the  reading  of  the  letter  of  Joseph  Anderson,  comptroller  of  the 
United  States  treasury,  and  the  notice  from  the  United  States  collector  at  Rochester,  as 
published  in  the  Albany  Daily  Advertiser  of  November  3. 

Mr.  Tallmadge  then  offered  the  following  preamble  and  resolution: 

Whereas,  this  legislature  has  had  under  consideration  a  letter  dated  April  Cth,  1824,  from 
Joseph  Anderson,  comptroller  of  the  treasury  of  the  United  States,  in  relation  to  the  exaction 
of  tonnage  duties  upon  boats  navigating  the  canals  of  this  state,  and  requiring  such  boats 
to  be  enrolled  and  licensed  under  the  United  States.  And  whereas,  it  appears  that  the 
subject  was  submitted  in  April  last,  to  the  house  of  representatives,  with  a  view  to  have 
canal  boats  exempted  from  such  claim  or  exaction,  and  that  "  Mr.  Newton,  from  the  com- 
mittee, made  a  report  against  amending  the  law  so  as  to  admit  vessels  to  navigate  canals 
without  enrolment  or  license,  or  payment  of  tonnage  duties,  and  in  which  report  the  house 
concurred."  And  whereas,  it  appears  to  this  legislature,  after  due  consideration,  that  the 
claim  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  to  require  boats  which  navigate  our  canals,  to  be  en- 
rolled or  licensed,  and  to  pay  tonnage  duties,  is  a  claim  not  founded  on  any  legal  right,  and 
in  regard  to  the  circumstancos  under  which  it  is  made,  such  claim  is  so  evidently  unjust  and 
oppressive,  that  the  interference  of  this  state  is  called  for  the  defence  of  its  citizens. 
Therefore, 

Resolved,  (if  the  senate  concur,)  That  the  senators  of  this  state,  in  the  senate  of  the 
United  States,  be  directed,  and  the  representatives  of  this  state,  in  the  house  of  representa- 
tives of  the  United  States,  be  requested  to  use  their  utmost  endeavours  to  prevent  any  such 
unjust  and  oppressive  exaction  for  tonnage  duties  on  boats  navigating  the  canals,  from 
being  carried  into  effect. 

Resolved,  That  his  excellency  the  Governor,  be  requested  to  transmit  a  copy  of  the  fore- 
going recital  and  resolution  to  the  senators  and  representatives  from  this  state — and  also  to 
the  president  of  the  United  States,  and  to  the  speaker  of  the  house  of  representatives  of 
the  United  States. 

In  support  of  his  resolution,  Mr.  Tallmadge  made  the  following  remarks. 

Mr.  Tallmadge  said  it  was  some  time  since  he  heard  that  a  claim  had  been  6et  up  on  the 
part  of  the  United  States  for  tonnage  duties  on  our  canal  boats.  He  had  not  regarded  the 
rumours,  because  he  considered  them  wholly  unfounded,  and  without  any  credit.  He  had 
classed  those  rumours  among  the  many  unfounded  reports  which  had  been  so  lately  and  so 
widely  circulated,  perhaps  for  political  objects.    He  had  continued  under  the  entire  disbelief 


402 


APPENDIX. 


until  Saturday,  when  the  letter  of  Joseph  Anderson,  comptroller  of  the  treasury,  appeared  in 
the  public  newspapers,  and  had  come  under  his  observation.  The  subject  commanded  his 
immediate  attention,  and  he  availed  himself  of  the  earliest  opportunity  to  call  the  attention 
of  this  legislature  to  the  subject,  and  to  submit  the  matter  to  its  consideration.  In  his  opi- 
nion, it  was  a  subject  of  such  deep  importance  to  the  character  of  this  state,  and  to  the  inter- 
ests of  its  citizens,  that  it  could  admit  of  no  delay,  nor  yield  to  any  compromise.  The  claim 
for  payment  of  tonnage  duties  on  our  own  canals,  was  a  claim  so  evidently  wrong  and  unjust, 
it  must  not  be  submitted  to  for  a  single  day.  It  called  for  the  marked  and  decided  disappro- 
bation of  this  house.  The  legislature  of  this  state  were  bound  not  only  to  speak  to  the  con- 
gress of  the  United  States  in  defence  of  her  own  and  her  citizens'  rights,  but  it  was  bound 
to  speak  in  language  not  to  be  misunderstood.  Let  the  claim  be  declared  to  be  unsupported 
in  point  of  law,  and  unfounded  in  a  spirit  of  equal  justice,  and  wholly  inadmissible. 

The  proposition  which  I  maintain  is,  that  whatever  may  be  the  language,  or  however  ex- 
tensive the  terms  and  expressions  of  the  act  of  1793,  yet,  that  it  cannot  be  construed  to 
extend  to,  or  include  within  its  operations  the  canals  of  this  state,  and  cannot  justify  the  ex- 
action of  a  tonnage  duty  upon  boats  within  those  canals. 

Congress  have  power  by  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  to  regulate  commerce  with 
foreign  nations,  among  the  several  slates,  and  with  the  Indian  tribes.  From  this  clause  is 
derived  their  power  and  jurisdiction  over  the  subject.  It  points  out  the  nature  of  their 
authority — it.  limits  it  to  fnreigm  nations  nr  amnng  the  stntps.  It  excludes  all  idea  of  any 
power  over  the  internal  concerns  of  a  state.  In  the  theory  and  practice  of  our  intermingled 
general  and  state  governments,  this  was  intentionally  reserved  to  the  states.  Any  inter- 
ference on  the  part  of  the  general  government  in  our  local  and  internal  concerns,  with  our 
towns,  turnpikes,  and  private  incorporations,  would  not  be  endured  for  a  moment.  Our 
canals  are  internal,  and  come  within  the  same  principles,  and  cannot  submit  to  the  interfe- 
rence of  the  general  government.  It  is  our  duty  and  our  business  to  maintain  our  state 
rights.  Our  bays,  inlets,  harbours,  and  navigable  streams,  are  betowed  upon  us  as  the  boun- 
ties of  Providence,  and  as  the  natural  product  from  the  hand  of  God.  The  United  States 
have  the  just  jurisdiction  over  all  those  waters  for  the  necessary  regulation  of  commerce 
with  foreign  nations,  and  among  the  several  states.  But  our  canals  are  of  a  different  class  ; 
they  are  not  natural,  but  artificial ;  they  are  the  product  of  our  own  labour,  and  created  at 
our  individual  expense.  They  are  mere  vehicles,  like  our  waggons,  upon  which  the  product 
of  agriculture  and  manufactures  are  carried  to  market,  and  made  ready  for  commerce  with 
foreign  nations,  or  among  the  several  states.  Our  private  fortunes  are  invested  in  our  turn- 
pikes— the  wealth  and  the  credit  of  the  state  are  invested  in  our  canals.  We  look  to  them 
as  the  property  of  the  state,  to  produce  an  income  which  may  relieve  us  from  the  heavy 
burthens  under  which  we  rest. 

We  can  never  suffer  the  United  States  to  take  away  the  income,  under  the  name  of  ton- 


APPENDIX. 


403 


nage  duties,  while  we  are  borne  down  and  left  under  the  heavy  debts  incurred  in  making 
those  canals.    It  is  to  extort  from  us  our  private  property.    Whatever  are  the  words  and 
terms  of  the  act  of  1793,  regulating  the  navigation  and  coasting  trade  of  the  United  States, 
it  is  a  perversion  of  its  meaning,  and  a  misapplication  of  its  object,  to  extend  its  construction 
so  as  to  include  boats  upon  our  canals.    When  that  act  was  passed,  our  canals  were  not  in 
existence,  nor  even  in  contemplation.    Canals  were  at  that  time  unknown  in  this  country, 
It  never  could  have  been  the  object  of  the  act  to  have  reached  canal  navigation.    The  act 
was  avowedly  passed  with  reference  to  the  natural  waters  of  the  United  States,  and  intended 
to  include  the  bays,  inlets,  and  deep  streams  formed  by  nature,  and  necessarily  used  in  com- 
merce with  foreign  nations,  and  among  the  several  states.    The  term  navigation,  used  in  the 
act,  had  reference  to  the  natural  waters  then  open  to  general  commerce,  and  could  not  have 
intended  to  embrace  artificial  streams,  long  since  created  by  the  hand  of  man,  and  now  pre- 
served at  his  individual  expense.    If  these  distinctions  are  correct,  the  conclusion  is,  that 
while  the  cases  cited  in  the  opinion  of  the  comptroller,  are  correct,  as  applied  to  natural 
bays  and  inlets,  that  act  cannot  be  extended  to  boats  on  the  canals,  although  above  five  tons 
burthen,  and  otherwise  within  the  words  of  the  act.    This  construction  and  restriction  of  the 
words  of  the  act  of  1793,  derives  great  force  from  the  recollection,  that  so  far  from  the  words 
of  the  act  being  intended  to  apply  to  canal  navigation,  our  canals  have  been  made  long  since 
the  date  of  the  act,  and  under  the  scoff  and  hiss  of  that  general  government,  which  laughed 
at  the  folly  of  our  undertaking ;  but  which  now  comes  to  search  into  our  internal  concerns, 
and  demand  of  us  tribute  for  our  successful  enterprise.    Massachusetts  has  her  Middle- 
sex Canal,  but  we  have  not  heard  of  a  tonnage  duty  there.    Virginia  has  long  had  her 
James  River  Canal,  and  yet  the  letter  of  the  comptroller,  nor  the  report  of  Mr.  Newton,  do 
not  tell  us  that  tonnage  duly  has  been  for  years  past  collected  there.    Carolina  has  a  canal 
through  the  Dismal  Swamp,  yet  it  does  not  appear  any  requisition  has  been  made  upon  it 
for  tonnage  duty, — while  New-York  has  not  even  yet  completed  her  great  work,  the  justice 
and  policy  of  a  tonnage  duty  is  already  discovered,  and  the  act  of  1 793  is  found  to  be  intended 
for  our  canals  to  be  made  in  1 82  1,  and  under  the  power  to  regulate  commerce  with  foreign 
nations  and  among  the  several  states,  collectors  are  now  in  the  interior  chasing  after  boats  for 
forfeiture  and  confiscation.    Under  such  a  state  of  facts,  the  report  of  Mr.  Newton  is  made 
and  adopted  by  congress. 

It  is  not  my  province  to  censure  our  thirty-four  representatives  in  congress  for  having 
so  tamely  submitted  to  the  adoption  of  such  a  report ;  but  it  is  our  duty,  as  the  legislature 
of  this  state,  without  an  hour's  delay,  to  enter  our  protest,  and  to  announce  to  all  whom  it  may 
concern,  that  such  a  determination  cannot  and  must  not  be  tolerated. 

I  insist  that  no  judicial  tribunal  would  ever  sanction  the  opinion  of  the  comptroller  of  the 
treasury,  and  construe  the  act  of  '93  to  include  canal  navigation.  If  this  case  was  before 
a  court  of  justice,  it  would  regard  the  well  known  rules  for  the  construction  of  statutes. 


404 


APPENDIX. 


and  arrive  at  the  conclusion,  "  that  where  some  collateral  matter  arises  out  of  the  several 
words,  and  happens  to  be  unreasonable,  the  judges  are  in  decency  to  conclude  that  the  con- 
sequence was  not  foreseen  by  the  legislature,  and  therefore  they  are  at  liberty  to  expound 
the  statute  according  to  its  intent,  and  so  far  disregard  its  general  words."  The  example 
adduced  under  this  rule  is  thus — if  an  act  of  parliament  gives  a  man  power  to  try  all  causes 
that  arise  in  a  certain  district,  yet  if  a  cause  should  arise  in  which  he  himself  is  a  party, 
the  act  is  construed  not  to  extend  to  that,  because  it  is  unreasonable  that  any  man  should 
determine  his  own  quarrel.  It  is  also  a  rule  that  the  words  of  the  act  shall  be  understood 
according  to  their  usual  and  most  known  signification,  and  as  having  regard  to  the  subject 
matter.  Thus  the  act  of  '93  was  passed  to  regulate  the  coasting  trade  and  foreign  com- 
merce, and  under  a  power  limited  to  regulate  commerce  among  the  states :  canals  were  then 
unknown  in  this  country,  and  the  term  navigation,  in  its  most  usual  and  known  acceptation, 
had  reference  to  the  natural  waters,  the  ocean  and  the  bays,  inlets  and  harbours  of  the 
country.  Another  rule  in  the  construction  of  statutes,  directs  us  to  regard  the  reason  and 
spirit  of  the  law,  or  the  cause  which  moved  the  legislature  to  enact  it.  We  are  also  com- 
manded to  consider  the  effects  and  consequence,  and  that  when  words  bear  either  none  or  a 
very  absurd  signification,  if  literally  understood,  we  must  even  deviate  from  the  received 
6ense  of  them.  Thus  we  are  told  of  a  law  which  enacted,  that  whoever  drew  blood  in  the 
streets,  should  be  punished  with  the  utmost  severity,  was  held,  after  a  long  debate,  not 
to  extend  to  the  surgeon  who  opened  a  vein  of  a  person  that  fell  down  in  the  streets  with 
a  fit. 

The  conclusion  of  the  act  of  '93  cannot  be  extended  to  include  canals  not  then  in  exist- 
ence, and  long  since  enacted,  is  too  evident  to  admit  of  further  argument.  I  therefore  in- 
sist that  we  do  not  require  from  congress  any  further  legislation  to  exempt  our  canal  boats 
from  tonnage  duties ;  and  that  our  remedy  is  to  be  found  in  a  firm  and  proper  and  legal  re- 
sistance to  the  extended  and  improper  application  of  the  act  of  '93. 

But  if  we  are  wrong  in  all  these  premises,  and  incorrect  in  all  these  conclusions,  it  then 
remains  for  us  to  consider  the  spirit  of  justice  in  which  this  claim  for  tonnage  duties  is  made, 
and  the  circumstances  under  which  it  is  pressed  upon  us — whose  mind  is  not  instantly  filled 
with  recollections  of  the  past  ?  We  are  not  only  one  of  the  states,  but  an  elder  sister  of 
this  happy  union.  To  consummate  that  union,  we  bore  our  full  share  in  all  the  toils  and 
perils  of  the  era  which  gave  it  birth.  To  supply  it  with  resources,  we  surrendered  our 
right  to  collect  "  imposts"  in  our  own  harbour ;  we  gave  up  our  custom-house  and  our  duties, 
and  transferred  over  to  this  union,  resources  which  even  at  this  day  produce  from  our  own 
.  state,  more  than  one-fifth  part  of  the  whole  revenue  of  the  United  States.  When  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  age  and  the  spirit  of  this  people,  produced  and  adopted  our  system  of  in- 
ternal improvement,  who  does  not  remember,  that  fearing  the  extent  of  our  own  resources, 


APPENDIX. 


405 


compared  with  the  required  amount  of  expenditure,  we  asked  of  this  union  co-operation 
and  assistance.    But  we  asked  in  vain  ! 

We  sent  special  agents  to  solicit  from  the  general  government  a  grant  of  new  lands,  or 
even  a  loan  of  money-  The  favour  was  withheld,  because  the  very  boldness  of  our  project, 
examined  by  the  narrow  visions  which  could  not  comprehend  its  gigantic  magnitude,  was 
condemned  as  the  wildness  of  delusion,  and  served  but  to  impeach  our  credit.  While  that 
constitution,  with  its  elastic  properties,  which  can  expand  to  the  granting  of  millions  for  a 
Cumberland  road,  or  thousands  for  clearing  out  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi,  contracts 
itself  into  a  blunt  refusal  when  a  pittance  is  asked  for  internal  improvements  in  the  state  of 
New- York.  But  the  pang  of  the  unkind  refusal  had  scarcely  ceased  to  vibrate  on  our 
hearts,  when  the  collectors  of  revenue  are  hovering  about  the  locks  built  with  our  labour, 
and  at  expenses  sustained  by  our  rejected  credit,  and  under  the  name  of  tonnage  duties, 
provided  by  the  law  of  '93,  are  exacting  their  sixpences  from  the  boats  navigating  in 
our  artificial  streams,  whose  payment  of  tolls  are  under  the  sanction  and  protection  of  our 
state. 

The  late  case  of  Gibbons  v.  Ogden,  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States, 
commonly  known  as  the  steam- boat  cause,  has  determined  that  the  power  given  by  the 
constitution  to  regulate  commerce,  includes  navigation,  and  that  the  enrolment  and  license 
of  vessels,  and  payment  of  tonnage  duties  under  the  act  of  '93,  not  only  established  the 
character  and  nationality  of  the  vessel,  but  confers  upon  it  the  right  to  navigate  our  waters. 
It  is  upon  this  principle  the  court  decided,  perhaps  correctly,  that  steam-boats  enrolled  and 
licensed  under  the  United  States,  had  a  right  to  navigate  the  waters  of  this  state,  and  de- 
clared the  laws  of  this  state,  giving  exclusive  privileges  to  the  Fulton  company,  to  be  inef- 
fectual and  void. 

If  you  for  one  moment  submit  to  the  principle  of  this  claim  for  enrolment  and  license, 
and  the  payment  of  tonnage  duties  upon  boats  in  our  canals ;  if  you  yield  to  any  other  con- 
struction of  the  act  of  '93  than  is  now  given;  if  you  sanction  the  term  navigation,  in  its 
commercial  meaning,  to  be  applied  to  any  other  than  the  natural  waters,  the  bays,  inlets, 
harbours  and  deep  streams  of  your  country — then  the  vessels  enrolled  and  licensed  under 
the  United  States,  have  established  not  only  their  national  character,  but  their  right  to  navi- 
gate. If  such  vessel  shall  present  herself  before  your  locks  and  demand  to  pass,  I  ask,  with 
what  right,  and  upon  what  reason,  your  state  can  refuse  them  admission  into  your  canals? 

I  ask,  under  what  pretence  you  can  maintain  your  right  to  demand  tolls  ?  The  col- 
lectors of  tonnage  duties  for  the  United  States,  will  then  take  place  of  your  toll  gatherers, 
and  your  citizens  must  turn"  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water,"  to  pay  the  interest  on 
your  canal  debt.  It  is  painful  to  have  conflicts  arise  between  the  state  and  general  govern- 
ment. But  this  claim  upon  our  canals  is  so  evidently  illegal,  and  under  the  circumstances 
so  unreasonable,  it  can  not  be  submitted  to.    It  is  another  Boston  tea  tax,  upon  which  it  has 

49 


406 


APPENDIX. 


become  the  duty  of  this  state  to  take  its  stand — even  though  in  its  consequences  the  cradle 
of  liberty  should  again  be  rocked. 

After  this  speech,  it  may  be  added,  the  resolution  was  passed  unani- 
mously. 


Note. — Page  104. 

The  Memorial  of  Mr.  Clinton  referred  to,  has  been  published  in  various 
forms,  and  has  been  very  extensively  diffused  throughout  the  state.  But  inas- 
much as  it  was  among  the  most  influential  means  of  inducing  the  legislature, 
and  the  people  of  this  state,  to  adopt  the  system  of  internal  navigation  which 
it  recommends,  and  as  it  contains  those  general  views  that  are  in  many  respects 
applicable  to  other  parts  of  our  country,  and  is  among  the  ablest  of  Mr.  Clin- 
ton's productions,  I  have  considered  it  due  to  the  author's  fame  to  republish  it 
at  length  among  the  documents  relating  to  the  canals  of  this  state. 

Memorial  of  the  Citizens  of  New- York,  in  favour  of  a  Canal  Navigation  between  the 
Great  Western  Lakes  and  the  tide-waters  of  the  Hudson. 

To  THE  LEGISLATURE  OF  THE  STATE  OF  NEW-YoRK, 

The  memorial  of  the  subscribers,  in  favour  of  a  canal  navigation  between  the  great  wes- 
tern lakes  and  the  tide-waters  of  the  Hudson,  most  respectfully  represents  : 

That  they  approach  the  legislature  with  a  solicitude  proportioned  to  the  importance  of  this 
great  undertaking,  and  with  a  confidence  founded  on  the  enlightened  public  spirit  of  the 
constituted  authorities.  If,  in  presenting  the  various  considerations  which  have  induced 
them  to  make  this  appeal,  they  should  occupy  more  time  than  is  usual  on  common  occasions, 
they  must  stand  justified  by  the  importance  of  the  object.  Connected  as  it  is  with  the  es- 
sential interests  of  our  country,  and  calculated  in  its  commencement  to  reflect  honour  on 
the  state,  and  in  its  completion,  to  exalt  it  to  an  elevation  of  unparalleled  prosperity; 
your  memorialists  are  fully  persuaded,  that  centuries  may  pass  away  before  a  subject  is 
again  presented  so  worthy  of  all  your  attention,  and  so  deserving  of  all  your  patronage  and 
support. 

The  improvement  of  the  means  of  intercourse  between  different  parts  of  the  same 
country,  has  always  been  considered  the  first  duty  and  the  noblest  employment  of  govern- 


APPENDIX. 


407 


ment.  If  it  be  important  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  same  country  should  be  bound  toge- 
ther by  a  community  of  interests,  and  a  reciprocation  of  benefits ;  that  agriculture  should 
find  a  sale  for  its  productions;  manufacturers  a  vent  for  their  fabrics;  and  commerce 
a  market  for  its  commodities:  it  is  your  incuriibent  duty,  to  open,  facilitate,  and 
improve  internal  navigation.  The  pre-eminent  advantages  of  canals  have  been  established 
by  the  unerring  test  of  experience.  They  unite  cheapness,  celerity,  certainty,  and  safety, 
in  the  transportation  of  commodities.  It  is  calculated  that  the  expense  of  transporting  on 
a  canal,  amounts  to  one  cent  a  ton  per  mile,  or  one  dollar  a  ton  for  one  hundred  miles ;  while 
the  usual  cost  by  land  conveyance,  is  one  dollar  and  sixty  cents  per  hundred  weight,  or 
32  dollars  a  ton  for  the  same  distance.  The  celerity  and  certainty  of  this  mode  of  trans- 
portation are  evident.  A  loaded  boat  can  be  towed  by  one  or  two  horses  at  the  rate  of  30 
miles  a  day.  Hence,  the  seller  or  buyer  can  calculate  with  sufficient  precision  on  his  sales 
or  purchases,  the  period  of  their  arrival,  the  amount  of  their  avails,  and  the  extent  of  their 
value.  A  vessel  on  a  canal  is  independent  of  winds,  tides,  and  currents,  and  is  not  exposed 
to  the  delays  attending  conveyances  by  land  ;  and  with  regard  to  safety,  there  can  be  no 
competition.  The  injuries  to  which  commodities  are  exposed  when  transported  by  land, 
and  the  dangers  to  which  they  are  liable  when  conveyed  by  natural  waters,  are  rarely  expe- 
rienced on  canals.  In  the  latter  way,  comparatively  speaking,  no  waste  is  incurred,  no  risk 
is  encountered,  and  no  insurance  is  required.  Hence,  it  follows,  that  canals  operate  upon 
the  general  interests  of  society,  in  the  same  way  that  machines  for  saving  labour  do  in  ma- 
nufactures ;  they  enable  the  farmer,  the  mechanic,  and  the  merchant  to  convey  their  com- 
modities to  market,  and  to  receive  a  return,  at  least  thirty  times  cheaper  than  by  roads.  As 
to  all  the  purposes  of  beneficial  communication,  they  diminish  the  distance  between  places, 
and  therefore  encourage  the  cultivation  of  the  most  extensive  and  remote  parts  of  the 
country.  They  create  new  sources  of  internal  trade,  and  augment  the  old  channels,  for  the 
more  cheap  the  transportation,  the  more  expanded  will  be  its  operation,  and  the  greater  the 
mass  of  the  products  of  the  country  for  sale,  the  greater  will  be  the  commercial  exchange 
of  returning  merchandize,  and  the  greater  the  encouragement  to  manufacturers,  by  the 
increased  economy  and  comfort  of  living,  together  with  the  cheapness  and  abundance  of 
raw  materials  ;  and  canals  are  consequently  advantageous  to  towns  and  villages,  by  destroy- 
ing the  monopoly  of  the  adjacent  country,  and  advantageous  to  the  whole  country ;  for 
though  some  rival  commodities  may  be  introduced  into  the  old  markets,  yet  many  new  mar- 
kets will  be  opened  by  increasing  population,  enlarging  old  and  erecting  new  towns,  aug- 
menting individual  and  aggregate  wealth,  and  extending  foreign  commerce. 

The  prosperity  of  ancient  Egypt,  and  China,  may  in  a  great  degree  be  attributed  to 
their  inland  navigation.  With  little  foreign  commerce,  the  former  of  those  countries,  by 
these  means  attained,  and  the  latter  possesses  a  population  and  opulence  in  proportion  to 
their  extent,  unequalled  in  any  other.    And  England  and  Holland,  the  most  commercial 


408 


APPENDIX. 


nations  of  modern  times,  deprived  of  their  canals,  would  lose  the  most  prolific  source  of 
their  prosperity  and  greatness.  Inland  navigation  is  in  fact  to  the  same  community  what 
exterior  navigation  is  to  the  great  family  of  mankind.  As  the  ocean  connects  the  nations 
of  the  earth  by  the  ties  of  commerce  and  the  benefits  of  communication,  so  do  lakes,  rivers, 
and  canals  operate  upon  the  inhabitants  of  the  same  country ;  and  it  has  been  well  observ- 
ed, that  "  were  we  to  make  the  supposition  of  two  states,  the  one  having  all  its  cities,  towns, 
and  villages  upon  navigable  rivers  and  canals,  and  having  an  easy  communication  with  each 
other  ;  the  other  possessing  the  common  conveyance  of  land  carriage,  and  supposing  both 
states  to  be  equal  as  to  soil,  climate,  and  industry  :  commodities  and  manufactures  in  the 
former  state  might  be  furnished  30  per  cent,  cheaper  than  in  the  latter  ;  or,  in  other  words, 
the  first  state  would  be  a  third  richer  and  more  affluent  than  the  other." 

The  general  arguments  in  favour  of  inland  navigation,  apply  with  peculiar  force  to  the 
United  States,  and  most  emphatically  to  this  state.  A  geographical  view  of  the  country 
will  at  once  demonstrate  the  unexampled  prosperity  that  will  arise  from  our  cultivating  the 
advantages  which  nature  has  dispensed  with  so  liberal  a  hand.  A  great  chain  of  mountains 
passes  through  the  United  States,  and  divides  them  into  eastern  and  western  America.  In 
various  places,  rivers  break  through  these  mountains,  and  are  finally  discharged  into  the 
ocean.  To  the  west  there  is  a  collection  of  inland  lakes,  exceeding  in  its  aggregate  extent 
some  of  the  most  celebrated  seas  of  the  old  world.  Atlantic  America,  on  account  of  the 
priority  of  its  settlement,  its  vicinity  to  the  ocean,  and  its  favourable  position  for  commerce, 
has  many  advantages.  The  western  country,  however,  has  a  decided  superiority  in  the 
fertility  of  its  soil,  the  benignity  of  its  climate,  and  the  extent  of  its  territory.  To  con- 
nect these  great  sections  by  inland  navigation,  to  unite  our  Mediterranean  seas  with  the 
ocean,  is  evidently  an  object  of  the  first  importance  to  the  general  prosperity.  Nature  has 
effected  this  in  some  measure ;  the  St.  Lawrence  emanates  from  the  lakes,  and  discharges 
itself  into  the  ocean  in  a  foreign  territory.  Some  of  the  streams  which  flow  into  the  Missis- 
sippi, originate  near  the  great  lakes,  and  pass  round  the  chain  of  mountains.  Some  of  the 
waters  of  this  state  which  pass  into  Lake  Ontario,  approach  the  Mohawk ;  but  our  Hudson 
has  decided  advantages.  It  affords  a  tide  navigation  for  vessels  of  eighty  tons  to  Albany 
and  Troy,  160  miles  above  New- York,  and  this  peculiarity  distinguishes  it  from  all  the 
other  bays  and  rivers  in  the  United  States,  &c. 

The  tide  in  no  other  ascends  higher  than  the  Granite  Ridge,  or  within  thirty  miles  of  the 
Blue  Ridge,  or  eastern  chain  of  mountains.  In  the  Hudson  it  breaks  through  the  Blue 
Ridge,  and  ascends  above  the  eastern  termination  of  the  Catskill,  or  great  western  chain  ; 
and  there  are  no  interposing  mountains  to  prevent  a  communication  between  it  and  the  great 
western  lakes. 

The  importance  of  the  Hudson  River  to  the  old  settled  parts  of  the  state,  may  be  observed 
in  the  immense  wealth  which  is  daily  borne  on  its  waters,  in  the  flourishing  villages  and  cities 


APPENDIX. 


409 


on  its  banks,  and  in  the  opulence  and  prosperity  of  all  the  country  connected  with  it,  either 
remotely  or  immediately.  It  may  also  be  readily  conceived,  if  we  only  suppose  that  by  some 
awful  physical  calamity,  some  overwhelming  convulsion  of  nature,  this  great  river  was  ex- 
hausted of  its  waters  ;  where  then  would  be  the  abundance  of  our  markets,  the  prosperity 
of  our  farmers,  the  wealth  of  our  merchants?  Our  villages  would  become  deserted,  our 
flourishing  cities  would  be  converted  into  masses  of  mouldering  ruins,  and  this  6tate  would 
be  precipitated  into  poverty  and  insignificance.  If  a  river  or  natural  canal,  navigable  about 
170  miles,  has  been  productive  of  such  signal  benefits,  what  blessings  might  not  be  expected  if 
it  were  extended  300  miles  through  the  most  fertile  country  in  the  universe,  and  united  with 
the  great  seas  of  the  west !  The  contemplated  canal  would  be  this  extension  ;  and  viewed 
in  reference  only  to  the  productions  and  consumptions  of  the  state,  would  perhaps  convey 
more  riches  on  its  waters  than  any  other  canal  in  the  world.  Connected  with  the  Hudson, 
it  might  be  considered  as  a  navigable  stream  that  extends  450  miles  through  a  fruitful  coun- 
try, embracing  a  great  population,  and  abounding  with  all  the  productions  of  industry;  if 
we  were  to  suppose  all  the  rivers  and  canals  in  England  and  Wales,  combined  into  one,  and 
discharging  into  the  ocean  at  a  great  city,  after  passing  through  the  heart  of  that  country, 
then  we  can  form  a  distinct  idea  of  the  importance  of  the  projected  canal ;  but  it  indeed 
comprehends  within  its  influence  a  greater  extent  of  territory,  which  will  in  time  embrace 
a  greater  population.  If  this  work  be  so  important  when  we  confine  our  views  to  this 
state  alone,  how  unspeakably  beneficial  must  it  appear,  when  we  extend  our  contemplations 
to  the  great  lakes,  and  the  country  affiliated  with  them?  Waters  extending  2000  miles  from 
the  beginning  of  the  canal,  and  a  country  containing  more  territory  than  all  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland,  and  at  least  as  much  as  France. 

While  we  do  not  pretend  that  all  the  trade  of  our  western  world  will  centre  in  any  given 
place,  nor  would  it  be  desirable  if  it  were  practicable,  because  we  sincerely  wish  the  pros- 
perity of  all  the  states ;  yet  we  contend  that  our  natural  advantages  are  so  transcendant,  that 
it  is  in  our  power  to  obtain  the  greater  part,  and  put  successful  competition  at  defiance.  As 
all  the  other  communications  are  impeded  by  mountains,  the  only  formidable  rivals  of  New- 
York,  for  this  great  prize,  are  New-Orleans  and  Montreal,  the  former  relying  on  the  Mis- 
sissippi, and  the  latter  on  the  St.  Lawrence. 

In  considering  this  subject,  we  will  suppose  the  commencement  of  the  canal  somewhere 
near  the  outlet  of  Lake  Erie. 

The  inducements  for  preferring  one  market  to  another,  involve  a  variety  of  considerations  : 
the  principal  are  the  cheapness  and  facility  of  transportation,  and  the  goodness  of  the  mar- 
ket. If  a  cultivator  or  manufacturer  can  convey  his  commodities  with  the  same  ease  and 
expedition  to  New-York,  and  obtain  a  higher  price  for  them  than  at  Montreal  or  New- 
Orleans,  and  at  the  same  time  supply  himself  at  a  cheaper  rate  with  such  articles  as  he  may 
want  in  return,  he  will  undoubtedly  prefer  New-York.    It  ought  also  to  be  distinctly  under- 


410 


APPENDIX. 


stood,  that  a  difference  in  price  may  be  equalized  by  a  difference  in  the  expense  of  convey- 
ance, and  that  the  vicinity  of  the  market  is  at  all  times  a  consideration  of  great  importance. 

From  Buffalo,  at  or  near  the  supposed  commencement  of  the  canal,  it  is  450  miles  to  the 
city  of  New-York,  and  from  that  city  to  the  ocean  twenty  miles.  From  Buffalo  to  Montreal 
350  miles;  from  Montreal  to  the  chops  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  450.  From  Buffalo  to  New- 
Orleans  by  the  great  lakes,  and  the  Illinois  River,  2,250  miles;  from  New-Orleans  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  100.  Hence,  the  distance  from  Buffalo  to  the  ocean,  by  the  way  of  New- 
York,  is  470  miles  ;  by  Montreal  800 ;  and  by  New-Orleans  2,350. 

As  the  upper  lakes  have  no  important  outlet  but  into  Lake  Erie,  we  are  warranted  in 
saying,  that  all  their  trade  must  be  auxiliary  to  its  trade,  and  that  a  favourable  communica- 
tion by  water  from  Buffalo,  will  render  New-York  the  great  depot  and  warehouse  of  the 
western  world. 

In  order,  however,  to  obviate  all  objections  that  may  be  raised  against  the  place  of  com- 
parison, let  us  take  three  other  positions:  Chicago,  near  the  southwest  end  of  Lake  Michi- 
gan, and  of  a  creek  of  that  name,  which  sometimes  communicates  with  the  Illinois,  the 
nearest  river  from  the  lakes  to  the  Mississippi ;  Detroit,  on  the  river  of  that  name,  between 
Lake  St.  Clair  and  Erie ;  and  Pittsburgh,  at  the  confluence  of  the  Alleghany  and  Mononga- 
hela  Rivers,  forming  the  head  of  the  Ohio,  and  communicating  with  Le  Bceuf  by  water, 
which  is  distant  fifteen  miles  from  Lake  Erie. 

The  distance  from  Chicago  to  the  Ocean  by  New- York,  is  about  1,200  miles.  To  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  by  New-Orleans,  near  1,G00  miles,  and  to  the  mouth  of  the  St. 
Lawrence,  by  Montreal,  near  1,600  miles. 

The  distance  from  Detroit  to  the  ocean  by  New-York,  is  near  700  miles.  From  Detroit 
to  the  ocean,  by  Montreal,  is  1050  miles.  From  Detroit  to  the  ocean,  pursuing  the  nearest 
route  by  Cleveland,  down  the  Muskingum,  2,400  miles.  The  distance  from  Pittsburgh  to 
the  ocean,  by  Le  Bceuf,  Lake  Erie,  Buffalo,  and  New-York,  is  700  miles.  The  same  to  the 
ocean  by  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi,  2,150  miles. 

These  different  comparative  views  show  that  New- York  has,  in  every  instance,  a  decided 
advantage  over  her  great  rivals.  In  other  essential  respects,  the  scale  preponderates 
equally  in  her  favour.  Supposing  a  perfect  equality  of  advantages  as  to  the  navigation  of 
the  lakes,  yet  from  Buffalo,  as  the  point  of  departure,  there  is  no  comparison  of  benefits. 
From  that  place,  the  voyager  to  Montreal  has  to  encounter  the  inconveniences  of  a  portage 
at  the  cataract  of  Niagara,  to  load  and  unload  at  least  three  times,  to  brave  the  tempests  of 
Lake  Ontario,  and  the  rapids  of  the  St.  Lawrence. 

In  like  manner  the  voyager  to  New-Orleans,  has  a  portage  between  the  Chicago  and 
Illinois,  an  inconvenient  navigation  on  the  latter  stream,  besides  the  well-known  obstacles 
and  hazards  of  the  Mississippi.  And  until  the  invention  of  steam-boats,  an  ascending  navi- 
gation was  considered  almost  impracticable.    This  inconvenience  is,  however,  still  forcibly 


APPENDIX. 


411 


experienced  on  that  river,  as  well  as  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  between  Montreal  and  Lake 
Ontario. 

The  navigation  from  Lake  Erie  to  Albany,  can  be  completed  in  ten  days  with  perfect 
safety  on  the  canal ;  and  from  Albany  to  New-York,  there  is  the  best  sloop  navigation  in 
the  world. 

From  Buffalo  to  Albany,  a  ton  of  commodities  could  be  conveyed  on  the  intended  canal, 
for  three  dollars,  and  from  Albany  to  New- York,  according  to  the  present  prices  of  sloop 
transportation,  for  $'2T80"jj,  and  the  return  cargoes  would  be  the  same. 

We  have  not  sufficient  data  upon  which  to  predicate  very  accurate  estimates  with  regard 
to  Montreal  and  New-Orleans  ;  but  we  have  no  hesitation  an  saying,  that  the  descend- 
ing conveyance  to  the  former,  would  be  four  times  the  expense,  and  to  the  latter,  at  least 
ten  times,  and  that  the  cost  of  the  ascending  transportation  would  be  greatly  enhanced. 

It  has  been  stated  by  several  of  the  most  respectable  citizens  of  Ohio,  that  the  present 
expense  of  transportation  by  water  from  the  city  of  New-York  to  Sandusky,  inc  luding  the 
carrying  places,  is  $lT50°o  per  hundred,  and  allowing  it  to  cost  two  dollars  per  hundred, 
for  transportation  to  Clinton,  the  geographical  centre  of  the  state,  the  whole  expense  would 
be  f56Ts5°ff,which  is  only  fifty  cents  more  than  the  transportation  from  Philadelphia  to  Pitts- 
burgh, and  at  least  $2T50j  less  than  the  transportation  by  land  and  water  from  these 
places,  and  that,  in  their  opinion,  New-York  is  the  natural  emporium  of  that  trade,  and  that 
the  whole  commercial  intercourse  of  the  western  country  north  of  the  Ohio,  will  be  secured 
to  her  by  the  contemplated  canal. 

In  addition  to  this,  it  may  be  stated,  that  the  St.  Lawrence  is  generally  locked  up  by  ice 
seven  months  in  the  year,  during  which  time  produce  lies  a  dead  weight  on  the  hands  of  the 
owner  ;  that  the  navigation  from  New-York  to  the  ocean,  is  at  all  times  easy,  and  seldom 
obstructed  by  ice,  and  that  the  passage  from  the  Balize  to  New-Orleans  is  tedious  ;  that 
perhaps  one  out  of  five  of  the  western  boatmen  who  descend  the  Mississippi,  become  vic- 
tims to  disease;  and  that  many  important  articles  of  western  production  are  injured  or  de- 
stroyed by  the  climate.  New-York  is,  therefore,  placed  in  a  happy  medium  between  the  insa- 
lubrious heat  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  severe  cold  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  She  has  also 
pre-eminent  advantages,  as  to  the  goodness  and  extensiveness  of  her  market.  All  the  pro- 
ductions of  the  soil,  and  the  fabrics  of  art,  can  command  an  adequate  price,  and  foreign  com- 
modities can  generally  be  procured  at  a  lower  rate.  The  trade  of  the  Mississippi  is  already 
in  the  hands  of  her  merchants,  and  although  accidental  and  transient  causes  may  have  con- 
curred to  give  Montreal  an  ascendency  in  some  points,  yet  the  superiority  of  New- York  is 
founded  in  nature,  and  if  improved  by  the  wisdom  of  government,  must  always  soar  above 
competition. 

Granting,  however,  that  the  rivals  of  New-York  will  command  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  western  trade,  yet  it  must  be  obvious,  from  these  united  considerations,  that  she  will 


412 


APPENDIX. 


engross  more  than  sufficient  to  render  her  the  greatest  commercial  city  in  the  world.  The 
whole  line  of  canal  will  exhibit  boats  loaded  with  flour,  pork,  beef,  pot  and  pearl  ashes,  flax- 
seed, wheat,  barley,  corn,  hemp,  wool,  flax,  iron,  lead,  copper,  salt,  gypsum,  coal,  tar,  fur, 
peltry,  ginseng,  beeswax,  cheese,  butter,  lard,  staves,  lumber,  and  the  other  valuable  produc- 
tions of  our  country;  and  also,  with  merchandise  from  all  parts  of  the  world.  Great  manu- 
facturing establishments  will  spring  up  ;  agriculture  will  establish  its  granaries,  and  com- 
merce its  warehouses  in  all  directions.  Villages,  towns,  and  cities,  will  line  the  banks  of 
the  canal,  and  the  shores  of  the  Hudson  from  Erie  to  New-York.  "  The  wilderness  and  the 
solitary  place  will  become  glad,  and  the  desert  will  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose." 

While  it  is  universally  admitted  that  there  ought  to  be  a  water  communication  between 
the  great  lakes  and  the  tide-waters  of  the  Hudson,  a  contrariety  of  opinion,  greatly  to  be 
deplored,  as  tending  to  injure  the  whole  undertaken,  has  risen  with  respect  to  the  route  that 
ought  to  be  adopted.  It  is  contended  on  the  one  side,  that  the  canal  should  commence  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  outlet  of  Lake  Erie,  and  be  carried  in  the  most  eligible  direction  across 
the  country  to  the  head-waters  of  the  Mohawk  River  at  Rome :  from  whence  it  should  be 
continued  along  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk  to  the  Hudson.  It  is,  on  the  other  side,  insisted 
that  it  should  be  cut  round  the  cataract  of  Niagara ;  that  Lake  Ontario  should  be  navigated 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Oswego  River ;  that  the  navigation  of  that  river,  and  Wood  Creek, 
should  be  improved  and  pursued  until  the  junction  of  the  latter  with  the  Mohawk  at  Rome. 
As  to  the  expediency  of  a  canal  from  Rome  to  the  Hudson,  there  is  no  discrepance  of  opi- 
nion ;  the  route  from  Rome  to  the  great  lakes  constitutes  the  subject  of  controversy. 

If  both  plans  were  presented  to  the  legislature,  as  worthy  of  patronage,  and  if  the  advo- 
cates of  the  route  by  Lake  Ontario  did  not  insist  that  their  schemes  should  be  exclusive,  and 
of  course,  that  its  adoption  should  prove  fatal  to  the  other  project,  this  question  would  not 
exhibit  so  serious  an  aspect.  If  two  roads  are  made,  that  which  is  most  accommodating  will 
be  preferred ;  but  if  only  one  is  established,  whether  convenient  or  inconvenient  to  individuals, 
beneficial  or  detrimental  to  the  public,  it  must  necessarily  be  used.  We  are  so  fully  per- 
suaded of  the  superiority  of  the  Erie  Canal,  that  although  we  should  greatly  regret  so  use- 
less an  expenditure  of  public  money  as  making  a  canal  round  the  cataract  of  Niagara,  yet  we 
should  not  apprehend  any  danger  from  the  competition  of  Montreal,  if  the  former  were  es- 
tablished. 

An  invincible  argument  in  favour  of  the  Erie  Canal,  is,  that  it  would  diffuse  the  blessings 
of  internal  navigation  over  the  most  fertile  and  populous  parts  of  the  state,  and  supply  the 
whole  community  with  salt,  gypsum,  and  in  all  probability  coal.  Whereas,  the  Ontario  route 
would  accommodate  but  an  inconsiderable  part  of  our  territory,  and  instead  of  being  a  great 
highway,  leading  directly  to  the  object,  it  would  be  a  circuitous  by-road,  inconvenient  in 
all  essential  respects. 

The  most  serious  objection  against  the  Ontario  route,  is,  that  it  will  inevitably  enrich  the 


APPENDIX. 


413 


territory  of  a  foreign  power,  at  the  expense  of  the  United  States.  If  a  canal  is  cut  round 
the  falls  of  Niagara,  and  no  countervailing  nor  counteracting  system  is  adopted  in  relation  to 
Lake  Erie,  the  commerce  of  the  west  is  lost  to  us  for  ever.  When  a  vessel  once  descends 
into  Ontario,  she  will  pursue  the  course  ordained  by  nature.  The  British  government  are 
fully  aware  of  this,  and  arc  now  taking  the  most  active  measures  to  facilitate  the  passage 
down  the  St.  Lawrence. 

It  is  not  to  be  concealed,  that  a  great  portion  of  the  productions  of  our  western  country  are 
now  transported  to  Montreal,  even  with  all  the  inconveniences  attending  the  navigation 
down  the  Seneca  and  Oswego  Rivers  ;  but  if  this  route  is  improved  in  the  way  proposed, 
and  the  other  not  opened,  the  consequences  will  be  most  prejudicial.  A  barrel  of  flour  is 
now  transported  from  Cayuga  Lake  to  Montreal  for  glf^,  and  it  cannot  be  conveyed  to 
Albany  for  less  than  $2T55"ff.    This  simple  fact  speaks  a  volume  of  admonitory  instruction. 

But  taking  it  for  granted,  that  the  Ontario  route  will  bring  the  commerce  of  the  west  to 
New-York,  yet  the  other  ought  to  be  preferred,  on  account  of  the  superior  facilities  it  affords. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  nearer.  The  distance  from  Buffalo  to  Rome,  is  less  than  200  miles 
in  the  course  of  the  intended  canal ;  by  Lake  Ontario  and  Oswego,  it  is  232. 

2.  A  loaded  boat  could  pass  from  Buffalo  to  Rome  by  the  Erie  route,  in  less  than  seven 
days,  and  with  entire  safety.  By  the  Ontario  route,  it  will  be  perfectly  uncertain,  and  not  a 
little  hazardous.  After  leaving  the  Niagara  River,  it  would  have  to  pass  an  inland  sea  to 
the  extent  of  127  miles,  as  boisterous  and  as  dangerous  as  the  Atlantic.  And  besides  a  navi- 
gation of  at  least  twenty  miles  over  another  lake,  it  would  have  to  ascend  two  difficult 
streams  for  55  miles ;  no  calculation  could  then  be  made,  either  on  the  certainty  or  safety 
of  this  complicated  and  inconvenient  navigation. 

3.  When  a  lake  vessel  would  arrive  at  Buffalo,  she  would  have  to  unload  her  cargo,  and 
when  this  cargo  arrived  at  Albany  by  the  Erie  Canal,  it  would  be  shifted  on  board  of  a  river 
sloop,  in  order  to  be  transported  to  New-York.  From  the  time  of  the  first  loading  on  the 
great  lakes,  to  the  last  unloading  at  the  storehouses  in  New- York,  there  would  be  three 
loadings  and  three  unloadings  on  this  route. 

But  when  a  lake  vessel  arrived  with  a  view  of  passing  the  canal  of  Niagara,  she  would 
be  obliged  to  shift  her  loading  to  that  purpose,  for  it  would  be  almost  impracticable  to  use 
lake  vessels  on  the  Niagara  River,  on  account  of  the  difficulty  of  the  ascending  navigation. 
At  Lewiston,  or  some  other  place  on  the  Niagara,  another  change  of  the  cargo  on  board  of 
a  lake  vessel  for  Ontario  would  be  necessary  :  at  Oswego  another,  and  at  Albany  another ; 
so  that  on  this  route,  there  would  be  five  loadings  and  five  unloadings,  before  the  commodi- 
ties were  stored  in  New- York. 

This  difference  is  an  object  of  great  consequence,  and  presents  the  most  powerful  objec- 
tions against  the  Ontario  route;  for  to  the  delay  we  must  add  the  accumulated  expense  of 
these  changes  of  the  cargo,  the  storage,  the  waste,  and  damage,  especially  by  theft,  where 

50 


414 


APPENDIX. 


the  chances  of  depredation  are  increased  by  the  merchandise  passing  through  a  multitude  of 
hands,  and  the  additional  lake  vessels,  boats,  and  men  that  will  be  required,  thereby  increas- 
ing in  this  respect  alone,  the  cost  two-thirds  above  that  attending  the  other  course.  And  in 
general  it  may  be  observed,  that  the  difference  between  a  single  and  double  freight,  forms  an 
immense  saving.  Goods  are  brought  from  Europe  for  twenty  cents  per  cubic  foot ;  whereas, 
the  price  from  Philadelphia  to  Baltimore,  is  equal  to  ten  cents.  This  shows  how  far  articles 
once  embarked,  are  conveyed  with  a  very  small  addition  of  freight ;  and  if  such  is  the  differ- 
ence between  a  single  and  a  double  freight,  how  much  greater  must  it  be  in  the  case  under 
consideration  ? 

If  the  fall  from  Lake  Erie  to  Lake  Ontario  be  450  feet,  as  stated  in  Mr.  Secretary  Galla- 
tin's report  on  canals,  it  will  require  at  least  45  locks  for  a  navigation  round  the  cataract. 
Whether  it  would  be  practicable  to  accommodate  all  the  vessels  which  the  population  and 
opulence  of  future  times  will  create  in  those  waters,  with  a  passage  through  so  many  locks 
accumulated  within  a  short  distance,  is  a  question  w  ell  worthy  of  serious  consideration.  At 
all  events,  the  demurrage  must  be  frequent,  vexatious,  and  expensive. 

When  we  consider  the  immense  expense  which  would  attend  the  canal  proposed  on  the 
Niagara  River,  a  canal  requiring  so  many  locks,  and  passing  through  such  difficult  ground; 
when  we  view  the  Oswego  River  from  its  outlet  at  Oswego,  to  its  origin  in  Oneida  Lake, 
encumbered  with  dangerous  rapids  and  falls,  and  flowing  through  a  country  almost  imper- 
vious to  canal  operations ;  and  when  we  contemplate  the  numerous  embarrassments  which 
are  combined  with  th*»  improvement  of  Wood  Creek,  we  are  prepared  to  believe  that  the 
expense  of  this  route  will  not  greatly  fall  short  of  the  other. 

It  is,  however,  alleged,  that  it  is  not  practicable  to  make  this  canal ;  and  that  if  practica- 
ble, the  expense  will  be  enormous,  and  will  far  transcend  the  faculties  of  the  state. 

Lake  Erie  is  elevated  541  feet  above  tide  waters  at  Troy.  The  only  higher  ground  be- 
tween it  and  the  Hudson  is  but  a  few  miles  from  the  lake ;  and  this  difficulty  can  be  easily 
surmounted  by  deep  cutting  ;  of  course  no  tunnel  will  be  required.  The  rivers  which  cross 
the  line  of  the  canal,  can  be  easily  passed  by  aqueducts;  on  every  summit  level,  plenty  of  water 
can  be  obtained ;  whenever  there  is  a  great  rise  or  descent,  locks  can  be  erected,  and  the 
whole  line  will  not  require  more  than  sixty-two ;  perhaps  there  is  not  an  equal  extent  of 
country  in  the  world,  which  presents  fewer  obstacles  to  the  establishment  of  a  canal.  The 
liberality  of  nature  has  created  the  great  ducts  and  arteries,  and  the  ingenuity  of  art  can 
easily  provide  the  connecting  veins.  The  general  physiognomy  of  the  country  is  cham- 
paign, and  exhibits  abundance  of  water ;  a  gentle  rising  from  the  Hudson  to  the  lake  ;  a  soil 
well  adapted  for  such  operations ;  no  impassable  hills,  and  no  insurmountable  waters.  As 
to  distance,  it  is  not  to  be  considered  in  relation  to  practicability.  If  a  canal  can  be  made  for 
fifty  miles,  it  can  be  made  for  three  hundred,  provided  there  is  no  essential  variance  in  the 


APPENDIX. 


415 


face  of  the  country ;  the  only  difference  will  be,  that  in  the  latter  case,  it  will  take  more 
time,  and  consume  more  money. 

But  this'opinion  does  not  rest  for  its  support  upon  mere  speculation.  Canals  have  been  suc- 
cessfully cut  through  more  embarrassing  ground,  in  various  parts  of  the  United  States;  and 
even  in  part  of  the  intended  route  from  Schenectady  to  Rome,  locks  have  been  erected  at 
the  Little  Falls,  and  at  other  places ;  and  short  canals  have  been  made,  and  all  these  ope- 
rations have  taked  place  in  the  most  difficult  parts  of  the  whole  course  of  the  contemplated 
Erie  navigation.  Mr.  William  Weston,  one  of  the  most  celebrated  civil  engineers  in 
Europe,  who  has  superintended  canals  in  this  state  and  Pennsylvania,  and  who  is  perfectly 
well  acquainted  with  the  country,  has  thus  expressed  his  opinion  on  this  subject :  "  Should 
your  noble  but  stupendous  plan  of  uniting  Lake  Erie  with  the  Hudson,  be  carried  into  effect, 
you  have  to  fear  no  rivalry.  The  commerce  of  the  immense  extent  of  country,  bordering 
on  the  upper  lakes,  is  yours  for  ever,  and  to  such  an  incalculable  amount  as  would  baffle  all 
conjecture  to  conceive.  Its  execution  would  confer  immortal  honour  on  the  projectors  and 
supporters,  and  would  in  its  eventual  consequences,  render  New-York  the  greatest  commer- 
cial emporium  in  the  world,  with  perhaps  the  exception  at  some  distant  day  of  New-Orleans, 
or  some  other  depot  at  the  mouth  of  the  majestic  Mississippi.  From  your  perspicuous  to- 
pographical description,  and  neat  plan  and  profile  of  the  route  of  the  contemplated  canal,  I 
entertain  little  doubt  of  the  practicability  of  the  measure." 

With  regard  to  the  expense  of  this  work,  different  estimates  will  be  formed.  The  com- 
missioners appointed  for  that  purpose,  were  of  opinion  that  it  would  not  cost  more  than  five 
millions  of  dollars.  On  this  subject  we  must  be  guided  by  the  light  which  experience 
affords  in  analogous  cases. 

The  canal  of  Languedoc,  or  canal  of  the  two  seas  in  France,  connects  the  Mediterranean 
and  Atlantic,  and  is  180  miles  in  length  :  it  has  114  locks  and  sluices,  and  a  tunnel  720  feet 
long.  The  breadth  of  the  canal  is  144  feet,  and  its  depth  six  feet;  it  was  begun  in  1666, 
and  finished  in  1681,  and  cost  £540,000  sterling,  or  £3000  sterling  a  mile. 

The  Holstein  canal,  begun  in  1777,  and  finished  in  1785,  extends  about  fifty  miles  :  is  100 
feet  wide  at  the  top,  and  54  at  the  bottom,  and  not  less  than  ten  feet  deep  in  any  part. 
Ships  drawing  nine  feet  four  inches  in  water,  pass  through  it  from  the  German  ocean,  in  the 
vicinity  of  Tonningen,  into  the  Baltic.  From  two  to  three  thousand  ships  have  passed  in 
one  year.  The  expense  of  the  whole  work  was  a  little  more  than  a  million  and  a  half  of 
dollars,  which  would  be  at  the  rate  of  30,000  dollars  a  mile  for  this  ship  navigation. 

The  extreme  length  of  the  canal  from  the  Forth  to  the  Clyde  in  Scotland,  is  35  miles.  It 
rises  and  falls  160  feet  by  means  of  39  locks.  Vessels  pass  drawing  eight  feet  water,  having 
19  feet  beam,  and  73  feet  length.  The  cost  is  calculated  at  £200,000  sterling,  which  is 
at  the  rate  of  about  23,000  dollars  a  mile.    But  this  was  a  canal  for  ships  drawing  eight  feet 


416 


APPENDIX. 


of  water,  with  an  extraordinary  rise  for  its  length,  and  having  more  than  one  lock  for  every 
mile. 


The  following  will  give  an  ide 

;a  of  the  money  expended  on  such  works  in 

England  : 

Cost. 

Miles. 

3U 

  400,000 

57 

  420,000 

.78 

Grand  Junction, 

 t     -  500,000 

90 

Leeds  and  Liverpool, 

 -  800,000 

129 

The  miles  of  canal  are  385^, 

and  the  cost  is  £2,41 1,900  sterling,  or  about  28,000  dollars 

per  mile. 

But  in  the  estimation  of  the  cost  of  these  canals,  unquestionably  the  price  of  the  land  over 
which  they  pass  is  included,  and  this  is  enormous.  The  land  alone  for  one  canal  of  16  miles, 
is  said  to  have  cost  £90,000  sterling.    With  us  this  would  be  but  small. 

If  we  look  at  the  history  of  the  English  canals,  we  shall  see  how  many  objects  of  great 
expense  are  connected  with  them,  with  which  we  should  have  nothing  to  do,  and  that  most 
of  them  have  encountered  and  surmounted  obstacles  which  we  should  not  meet  with.  For 
instance,  the  Grand  Junction  Canal  passes  more  than  once  the  great  ridge  which  divides  the 
waters  of  England ;  ours  will  pass  over  a  country  which  is  in  comparison  champaign. 

But  it  is  said  that  the  price  of  labour  in  our  country  is  so  much  above  what  it  is  in  Eng- 
land, that  we  must  add  greatly  to  the  cost  of  her  canals  in  estimating  the  expense  of  ours. 

But  that  is  certainly  a  false  conclusion,  for  not  only  must  the  price  of  the  land  and  the 
adventitious  objects  which  have  been  before  referred  to,  be  deducted  from  the  cost  of  the 
foreign  canals,  but  we  must  consider  that  there  will  be  almost  as  great  a  difference  in  our 
favour  in  the  cost  of  materials  and  brute  labour,  as  there  is  in  favour  of  England  as  to  human 
labour,  and  it  is  well  known  that  so  much  human  labour  is  not  now  required  on  canals  as 
formerly.  Machines  for  facilitating  excavation  have  been  invented  and  used  with  great 
success. 

Mr.  Gallatin's  report  on  canals  contains  several  estimates  of  the  cost  of  contemplated 
ones.  From  Weymouth  to  Taunton,  in  Massachusetts,  the  expense  of  a  canal  of  26  miles 
with  a  lockage  of  260  feet,  is  set  down  at  1,250,000  dollars.  From  Brunswick  to  Trenton, 
28  miles,  with  a  lockage  of  100  feet,  800,000  dollars.  From  Christiana  to  Elk,  22  miles, 
with  a  lockage  of  148  feet,  750,000  dollars.  From  Elizabeth  River  to  Pasquotanck,  22 
miles,  with  a  lockage  of  40  feet,  250,000  dollars.  These  estimates  thus  vary  from  48,000 
to  less  than  12,000  dollars  a  mile,  and  furnish  the  medium  of  about  31,000  dollars  a  mile. — 
But  it  must  be  observed,  that  they  are  for  small  distances,  are  calculated  to  surmount  parti- 
cular obstacles,  and  contemplate  an  extraordinary  number  of  locks,  and  that  they  do  not 
therefore  furnish  proper  data  from  which  to  form  correct  conclusions  with  respect  to  the 


APPENDIX. 


417 


probable  cost  of  an  extensive  canal,  sometimes  running  over  a  great  number  of  miles  upon 
a  level  without  any  expense  for  lockage,  or  any  other  expense  than  the  mere  earth  work. 

Mr.  Weston,  before  mentioned,  estimated  the  expense  of  a  canal  from  the  tide-waters  at 
Troy  to  Lake  Ontario,  a  distance  of  160  miles,  (exclusive  of  Lake  Oneida,)  going  round  the 
Cahoos,  and  embracing  55  locks  of  8  feet  lift  each,  at  2,200,000  dollars,  a  little  more  than 
13,000  dollars  a  mile. 

Fortunately,  however,  we  have  more  accurate  information  than  mere  estimates. 

In  the  appendix  to  Mr.  Gallatin's  report,  it  is  stated  by  Mr.  Joshua  Gilpin,  that  "  by  ac- 
tual measurement,  and  the  sums  paid  on  the  feeder,  it  was  found  that  one  mile  on  the  Dela- 
ware and  Chesapeake  canal,  the  most  difficult  of  all  others,  from  its  being  nearly  altogether 
formed  through  hard  rocky  ground,  cost  13,000  dollars,  and  one  other  mile,  perfectly  level, 
and  without  particular  impediment,  cost  2,300  dollars;  from  hence,  the  general  average 
would  be  reduced  to  7,050  dollars  per  mile." 

The  Middlesex  Canal  in  Massachusetts,  runs  over  twenty-eight  miles  of  ground,  present- 
ing obstacles  much  greater  than  can  be  expected  on  the  route  we  purpose.  This  canal  cost 
478,000  dollars,  which  is  about  17,000  dollars  a  mile.  It  contains  twenty-two  locks  of  solid 
masonry,  and  excellent  workmanship,  and  to  accomplish  this  work  it  was  necessary  to  dig 
in  some  places  to  the  depth  of  twenty  feet,  to  cut  through  ledges  of  rocks,  to  fill  some  val- 
leys and  morasses,  and  to  throw  several  aqueducts  across  the  intervening  rivers.  One  of 
these  across  the  river  Shawshine  is  280  feet  long,  and  22  feet  above  the  river. 

From  the  Tonnewanta  Creek  to  the  Seneca  River,  is  a  fall  of  1 95  feet. 
From  thence  to  the  Rome  summit,  is  a  rise  of  50 
From  thence  to  the  Hudson  River,  is  a  fall  of  380 

The  whole  rise  and  fall,  625  feet 

This  will  require  sixty-two  locks  of  ten  feet  lift  each.  The  expense  of  such  locks,  as 
experimentally  proved  in  several  instances  in  this  state,  would  be  about  six  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  dollars. 

We  have  seen  that  on  the  Middlesex  Canal,  there  are  22  locks  for  28  miles,  which  is  a 
lock  for  somewhat  more  than  every  mile,  whereas  62  locks  for  300  miles,  is  but  about  one 
lock  for  every  five  miles  ;  and  the  lockage  of  the  Middlesex  Canal  would  alone  cost  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty  thousand  dollars.  It  would,  therefore,  appear  to  be  an  allowance  perhaps  too 
liberal  to  consider  the  cost  of  it  as  a  fair  criterion  of  the  expense  of  canals  in  general  in  this 
country,  and  of  this  in  particular.  Reservoirs  and  tunnels  are  the  most  expensive  part  of 
the  operation,  and  none  will  be  necessary  in  our  whole  route.  The  expense  of  the  whole 
earth  work  of  excavatinga  mile  of  canal  on  level  ground,  fitly  feet  wide  and  five  feet  deep, 
at  eighteen  cents  per  cubic  yard,  and  allowing  for  the  cost  of  forming  and  trimming  the 


418 


APPENDIX. 


banks,  puddling,  <&c.  will  not  exceed  4,000  dollars  per  mile,  and  the  only  considerable  aque- 
duct on  the  whole  line  will  be  over  the  Genesee  River. 

From  a  deliberate  consideration  of  these  different  estimates  and  actual  expenditures,  we 
arc  fully  persuaded  that  this  great  work  will  not  cost  more  than  20,000  dollars  a  mile,  or  six 
millions  of  dollars  in  the  whole ;  but  willing  to  make  every  possible  allowance,  and  even  con- 
ceding that  it  will  cost  double  that  sum,  yet  still  we  contend  that  there  is  nothing  which 
ought  to  retard  its  execution.  This  canal  cannot  be  made  in  a  short  time.  It  will  be  the 
work  perhaps  of  ten  or  fifteen  years. 

The  money  will  not  be  wanted  at  once.  The  expenditure,  in  order  to  be  beneficial,  ought 
not  to  exceed  500,000  dollars  a  year,  and  the  work  may  be  accomplished  in  two  ways; 
either  by  companies  incorporated  for  particular  sections  of  the  route,  or  by  the  state.  If  the 
first  is  resorted  to,  pecuniary  sacrifices  will  still  be  necessary  on  the  part  of  the  public,  and 
great  care  ought  to  be  taken  to  guard  against  high  tolls,  which  will  certainly  injure,  if  not 
ruin  the  whole  enterprise. 

If  the  state  shall  see  fit  to  achieve  this  great  work,  there  can  be  no  difficulty  in  providing 
funds.  Stock  can  be  created  and  sold  at  an  advanced  price.  The  ways  and  means  of  pay- 
ing the  interest  will  be  only  required.  After  the  first  year,  supposing  an  annual  expendi- 
ture of  500,000  dollars,  30,000  dollars  must  be  raised  to  pay  an  interest  of  six  per  cent  ; 
after  the  second  year,  60,000,  and  so  on.  At  this  rate  the  interest  will  regularly  increase 
with  beneficial  appropriation,  and  will  be  so  little  in  amount  that  it  may  be  raised  in  many 
shapes  without  being  burdensome  to  the  community.  In  all  human  probability,  the  aug- 
mented revenue  proceeding  from  the  public  salt  works,  and  the  increased  price  of  the  state 
lands  in  consequence  of  this  undertaking,  will  more  than  extinguish  the  interest  of  the  debt 
contracted  for  that  purpose.  We  should  also  take  into  view,  the  land  already  subscribed  by 
individuals  for  this  work,  amounting  to  106,632  acres.  These  donations,  together  with 
those  which  may  be  confidently  anticipated,  will  exceed  in  value  a  million  of  dollars,  and  it 
will  be  at  all  times  in  the  power  of  the  state  to  raise  a  revenue  from  the  imposition  of  transit 
duties,  which  may  be  so  light  as  scarcely  to  be  felt,  and  yet  the  income  may  be  so  great  as 
in  a  short  time  to  extinguish  the  debt,  and  this  might  take  effect  on  the  completion  of  every 
important  section  of  the  work. 

If  the  legislature  shall  consider  this  important  project  in  the  same  point  of  view,  and  shall 
unite  with  us  in  opinion,  that  the  general  prosperity  is  intimately  and  essentially  involved  in 
its  prosecution,  we  are  fully  persuaded  that  now  is  the  proper  time  for  its  commencement. — 
Delays  are  the  refuge  of  weak  minds,  and  to  procrastinate  on  this  occasion  is  to  show  a  cul- 
pable inattention  to  the  bounties  of  nature  ;  a  total  insensibility  to  the  blessings  of  Provi- 
dence, and  an  inexcusable  neglect  of  the  interests  of  society.  If  it  were  intended  to  ad- 
vance the  views  of  individuals,  or  to  foment  the  divisions  of  party;  if  it  promoted  the  inte- 
rests of  a  few,  at  the  expense  of  the  prosperity  of  the  many ;  if  its  benefits  were  limited  as 


APPENDIX. 


419 


to  place,  or  fugitive  as  to  duration,  then  indeed  it  might  be  received  with  cold  indifference, 
or  treated  with  stern  neglect ;  but  the  overflowing  blessings  from  this  great  fountain  of  pub- 
lic good  and  national  abundance,  will  be  as  extensive  as  our  country,  and  as  durable  as 
time. 

The  considerations  which  now  demand  an  immediate,  and  an  undivided  attention  to  this 
great  object,  are  so  obvious,  so  various,  and  so  weighty,  that  wc  shall  only  attempt  to  glance 
at  some  of  the  most  prominent. 

In  the  first  place,  it  must  be  evident  that  no  period  could  be  adopted  in  which  the  work 
can  be  prosecuted  with  less  expense.  Every  day  augments  the  value  of  the  land  through 
which  the  canal  will  pass ;  and  when  we  consider  the  surplus  hands  which  have  been  re- 
cently dismissed  from  the  army  into  the  walks  of  private  industry,  and  the  facility  with  which 
an  addition  can  be  procured  to  the  mass  of  our  active  labour,  in  consequence  of  the  convul- 
sions of  Europe,  it  must  be  obvious  that  this  is  now  the  time  to  make  those  indispensable 
acquisitions. 

2.  The  longer  this  work  is  delayed,  the  greater  will  be  the  difficulty  in  surmounting  the 
interests  that  will  rise  up  in  opposition  to  it.  Expedients  on  a  contracted  scale  have  already 
been  adopted  for  the  facilitation  of  intercourse.  Turnpikes,  locks,  and  short  canals  have 
been  resorted  to,  and  in  consequence  of  those  establishments,  villages  have  been  laid  out 
and  towns  have  been  contemplated.  To  prevent  injurious  speculation,  to  avert  violent  op- 
position, and  to  exhibit  dignified  impartiality  and  paternal  affection  to  your  fellow-citizens, 
it  is  proper  that  they  should  be  notified  at  once  of  your  intentions. 

3.  The  experience  of  the  late  war  has  impressed  every  thinking  man  in  the  community, 
with  the  importance  of  this  communication.  The  expenses  of  transportation  frequently  ex- 
ceeded the  original  value  of  the  article,  and  at  all  times  operated  with  injurious  pressure 
upon  the  finances  of  the  nation.  The  money  thus  lost  for  the  want  of  this  communication, 
would  perhaps  have  defrayed  more  than  one  half  of  its  expense. 

4.  Events  which  are  daily  occurring  on  our  frontiers,  demonstrate  the  necessity  of  this 
work.  Is  it  of  importance  that  our  honourable  merchants  should  not  be  robbed  of  their 
legitimate  profits  ;  that  the  public  revenues  should  not  be  seriously  impaired  by  dishonest 
smuggling,  and  that  the  commerce  of  our  cities  should  not  be  supplanted  by  the  mercantile 
establishments  of  foreign  countries?  Then  it  is  essential  that  this  sovereign  remedy  for 
maladies  so  destructive  and  ruinous  should  be  applied.  It  is  with  inconceivable  regret  we 
record  the  well  known  fact,  that  merchandize  from  Montreal,  has  been  sold  to  an  alarming 
extent  on  our  borders  for  15  percent,  below  the  New- York  prices. 

5.  A  measure  of  this  kind  will  have  a  benign  tendency  in  raising  the  value  of  the  national 
domains,  in  expediting  the  sale,  and  enabling  the  payment.  Our  national  debt  may  thus, 
in  a  short  time  be  extinguished.  Our  taxes  of  course  will  be  diminished,  and  a  considerable 
portion  of  revenue  may  then  be  expended  in  great  public  improvements ;  in  encouraging  the 


420 


APPENDIX. 


arts  and  sciences  ;  in  patronising  the  operations  of  industry ;  in  fostering  the  inventions  of 
genius,  and  in  diffusing  the  blessings  of  knowledge. 

6.  However  serious  the  fears  which  have  been  entertained  of  a  dismemberment  of  the 
Union  by  collisions  between  the  north  and  the  south,  it  is  to  be  apprehended  that  the  most 
imminent  danger  lies  in  another  direction,  and  that  a  line  of  separation  may  be  eventually 
drawn  between  the  Atlantic  and  the  western  states,  unless  they  are  cemented  by  a  common, 
an  ever-acting,  and  a  powerful  interest.  The  commerce  of  the  ocean,  and  the  trade  of  the 
lakes,  passing  through  one  channel,  supplying  the  wants,  increasing  the  wealth,  and  recipro- 
cating the  benefits  of  each  great  section  of  the  empire,  will  form  an  imperishable  cement 
of  connexion,  and  an  indissoluble  bond  of  union.  New-York  is  both  Atlantic  and  western; 
and  the  only  state  in  which  this  union  of  interests  can  be  formed  and  perpetuated,  and  in 
which  this  great  centripetal  power  can  be  energetically  applied.  Standing  on  this  exalted 
eminence,  with  power  to  prevent  a  train  of  the  most  extensive  and  afflicting  calamities  that 
ever  visited  the  world,  (for  such  a  train  will  inevitably  follow  a  dissolution  of  the  Union,) 
she  will  justly  be  considered  an  enemy  to  the  human  race,  if  she  does  not  exert  for  this  pur- 
pose the  high  faculties  which  the  Almighty  lias  put  into  her  hands. 

Lastly.  It  may  be  confidently  asserted,  that  this  canal,  as  to  the  extent  of  its  route,  as  to 
the  countries  which  it  connects,  and  as  to  the  consequences  which  it  will  produce,  is  without 
a  parallel  in  the  history  of  mankind.  The  union  of  the  Baltic  and  the  Euxine;  of  the  Red 
Sea  and  the  Mediterranean  ;  of  the  Euxine  and  the  Caspian ;  and  of  the  Mediterranean 
and  the  Atlantic,  has  been  projected  or  executed  by  the  chiefs  of  powerful  monarchies,  and 
the  splendour  of  the  design  has  always  attracted  the  admiration  of  the  world.  It  remains 
for  a  free  state  to  create  a  new  era  in  history,  and  to  erect  a  work  more  stupendous,  more 
magnificent,  and  more  beneficial  than  has  hitherto  been  achieved  by  the  human  race.  Cha- 
racter is  as  important  to  nations  as  to  individuals,  and  the  glory  of  a  republic,  founded  on  the 
promotion  of  the  general  good,  is  the  common  property  of  all  its  citizens. 

We  have  thus  discharged  with  frankness  and  plainness,  and  with  every  sentiment  of  re- 
spect, a  great  duty  to  ourselves,  to  our  fellow-citizens,  and  to  posterity,  in  presenting  this 
subject  to  the  fathers  of  the  commonwealth.  And  may  that  Almighty  Being  in  whose  hands 
are  the  destinies  of  states  and  nations,  enlighten  your  councils  and  invigorate  your  exertions 
in  favour  of  the  best  interests  of  our  beloved  country. 

This  memorial,  it  may  be  added,  was  signed  by  a  great  portion  of  the  re- 
spectable citizens  of  New-York,  and  was  seconded  by  the  corporation  of  that 
city,  and  by  meetings  held  in  Albany,  Geneva,  Buffalo,  Watervliet,  Hartland, 
Ridgeway,  Seneca,  Lyons,  Troy,  Onondaga,  Avon,  Paris,  Bloomfield,  Read- 


APPENDIX. 


421 


ing,  Junius,  Caledonia,  Canandaigua,  Russia,  Schuyler,  Newport,  German 
Flatts,  and  various  other  towns  in  Genesee,  Cayuga,  Oneida,  and  other  western 
counties. 


Note  A  A. — p.  104. 
Services  of  the  late  Dr.  Hugh  Williamson. 

Doctor  Williamson,  during  his  tour  in  Europe,  and  from  subsequent  observa- 
tion by  travel  in  this  country,  had  early  become  apprised  of  the  great  facilities 
and  advantages  which  the  state  of  New-York  so  eminently  possesses  for  an 
inland  communication  between  its  interior  waters  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

At  what  particular  period  his  attention  was  first  given  to  investigations  of 
this  nature,  is  not  so  certain.  As  early,  however,  as  June,  1807,  he  published 
in  a  paper,  entitled  "  The  Weekly  Inspector,'"  some  hints  on  the  improvement 
of  the  western  country,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  to  the  State  of  New-York 
advantages  which  otherwise  would  be  enjoyed  by  the  cities  of  Philadelphia 
and  Baltimore.  As  these  remarks  appear  to  be  the  first  of  Doctor  William- 
son's productions  on  this  subject,  and  were  made  at  an  early  day  with  his  cha- 
racteristic foresight,  I  have  thought  proper  to  give  them  a  place  in  these 
pages. 

"  The  votes  given  at  the  late  election  by  freeholders  in  this  state  for  government,  taken 
from  the  official  returns,  are  as  follow  : 

In  the  Southern  District,  -  9,688 
In  the  Middle        do.  -          -  .  -  13,670 

In  the  Eastern      do.  ....  16,482 

In  the  Western     do.  ...  -  26,223 

"  This  statement  shows  in  a  concise  view  the  number  of  freeholders  in  each  district  in  the 
state,  by  which  it  will  be  observed,  that  the  western  district  contains  a  greater  number  of 
freeholders  than  both  the  souUicrn  and  eastern  districts  ;  and  these  districts  include  the 
cities  of  New-York,  Albany,  and  Schenectady,  with  a  number  of  populous  villages ;  yet 
that  district,  generally  denominated  the  "  western  country,"  is  by  many  in  this  city  consi- 
dered a  mere  wilderness.    It  must,  however,  be  admitted,  that  nine-tenths  of  its  population 

51 


422 


APPENDIX. 


is  of  no  longer  date  than  eighteen  years  at  most ;  and  that,  before  that  time  this  western 
district  was  an  almost  endless  wilderness  to  the  lakes  on  which  it  borders.  Hence  these 
questions  will  arise — What  will  be  the  population  of  this  western  district  in  the  next 
eighteen  years  ?  What  the  commerce  of  this  city  with  this  western  country,  if  it  can  be  re- 
tained by  timely  improvements  ?  Will  not  that  western  country,  in  the  course  of  the  next 
eighteen  years,  give  as  many  votes  for  governor  as  the  whole  state  gave  at  the  last  elec- 
tion ?  There  is  sufficient  land  yet  unsettled  in  that  district  to  maintain  upwards  of  one 
hundred  thousand  freeholders.  But  will  not  so  rapid  a  population  as  this  district  is  capable 
of  producing,  be  compelled  to  force  its  trade  with  a  more  southerly  channel,  if  the  natural 
one,  which  leads  to  this  city,  remains  neglected  and  unimproved? 

"  Will  it  not  be  easy  for  a  great  part  of  this  western  country  to  open  its  inland  trade,  and 
carry  it  on  with  Baltimore,  as  it  is  in  its  present  unimproved  state,  to  continue  it  with  New- 
York,  Albany,  or  Schenectady  ?  This  western  country  may  be  compared  to  a  handsome 
girl,  who  has  too  rival  lovers — the  one,  Baltimore,  flattering  her  fancy — the  other,  New- 
York,  too  sure  of  conquest,  and  therefore  neglectful  of  his  courtesy.  But  beware  of  the 
consequences  of  this  neglect ;  view  with  a  jealous  eye  the  assiduities  and  devices  of  your 
rival.  If  you  wish  New- York  to  remain,  as  now,  the  emporium  of  America,  suffer  not  the 
trade  with  the  interior  of  your  state  to  be  carried  off  triumphantly  by  the  spirited  and  en- 
terprising citizens  of  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore." 

Dr.  Williamson  having  been  a  constant  visiter  in  my  family,  more  especi- 
ally in  1808 — 9  and  10,  he  had  frequent  discussions  with  Governor  Clinton 
and  the  late  Thomas  Eddy,  and  a  mutual  interchange  of  thought  and  views 
must  have  taken  place,  by  which  he  became  enthusiastically  devoted  to  this 
great  project  of  internal  navigation,  which  at  that  time  began  to  attract  pub- 
lic attention.  In  the  summer  of  1810  Dr.  Williamson  favoured  the  editors  of 
the  American  Medical  and  Philosophical  Register  of  New-York  with  a  paper, 
entitled  "Observations  on  Navigable  Canals,"  which  appeared  in  that  Journal 
in  October  of  the  same  year. 

This  essay  is  equally  remarkable  for  the  enlarged  suggestions  and  prophetic 
views  of  the  author,  and  the  confidence  with  which  he  contemplated  the  prac- 
ticability of  the  canal  communication  from  the  Hudson  to  Lake  Erie  by  the 
interior  route,  without  entering  into  Lake  Ontario,  and  among  the  other  do- 
cuments which  have  served  to  enlighten  the  public  mind  upon  the  subject  of 
the  canal  navigation  of  this  state,  is  particularly  worthy  of  reference.  Several 
other  papers  have  been  written  by  Dr.  Williamson  upon  this  subject,  under 


APPENDIX. 


423 


various  signatures,  which  may  be  found  in  the  same  journal,*  and  to  these 
may  be  added  a  separate  pamphlet,  which  he  published  under  the  signature  of 
Atticus,  which  has  been  several  times  reprinted,  and  of  which  many  thousand 
copies  have  been  circulated. 


Note  BB.— p.  105. 
Services  of  Robert  Troup. 

Among  the  number  of  those  entitled  to  the  meed  of  public  gratitude, 
although  he  did  not  hold  an  official  station  connected  with  the  public  measures 
relative  to  this  subject,  is  Colonel  Robert  Troup.  That  gentleman  was  an 
original  subscriber  to  the  Western  Inland  Lock  Navigation  Company,  and  in 
connexion  with  the  late  Thomas  Eddy,  Robert  Bowne,  of  New-York,  and 
Barent  Bleecker,  of  Albany,  was  also  an  active  and  useful  member  of  the 
board  of  directors  of  that  association.  Colonel  Troup  has  also,  as  an  agent 
for  the  Pulteney  estate,  resided  many  years  in  the  western  country.  Under 
those  circumstances  he  enjoyed  peculiar  opportunities  of  becoming  familiarly 
conversant  with  every  part  of  the  interior  of  the  state,  as  regards  its  soil,  its 
waters,  its  native  productions,  and  the  commercial  advantages  that  must  arise 
from  the  improvement  of  its  natural  navigation,  or  by  the  system  of  canals 
which  were  at  that  time  contemplated. 

Busily  employed,  as  Colonel  Troup  has  been  for  many  years,  in  performing 
the  duties  of  an  extensive  agency,  which  has  necessarily  called  him  to  mix  a 
good  deal  with  his  fellow-citizens  in  the  western  parts  of  the  state,  and  with 
the  members  of  the  legislature,  he  has  never  failed  to  improve  to  the  utmost 
of  his  power,  every  proper  opportunity  towards  removing  prejudices  against 
the  canal  policy,  and  substituting,  in  their  places,  impressions  favourable  to  its 
adoption. 

It  is  also  to  be  observed,  that  shortly  after  the  period  of  the  meeting  of  the 


*  See  Hosack  and  Francis'  American  Medical  and  Philosophical  Register. 


424 


APPENDIX. 


citizens  in  New-York,  which  agreed  to  Mr.  Clinton's  celebrated  Memorial  to 
the  legislature,  urging  that  body  to  undertake  the  construction  of  the  canal 
as  a  work  of  the  state,  Colonel  Troup  was  also  concerned  with  the  late  Gideon 
Granger,  John  Greig,  Esq.  John  Nicholas,  Esq.  the  Hon.  Nathaniel  W. 
Howell,  and  several  other  leading  gentlemen  of  Ontario  County,  in  convening 
a  large  meeting  at  Canandaigua,  in  that  county,  for  the  purpose  of  exciting 
general  attention  to  the  contemplated  improvements,  of  giving  a  right  direc- 
tion to  public  opinion,  and  of  pressing  the  construction  of  the  canals  as  the 
work  of  the  state.  The  meeting  took  place  ;  and  few  meetings,  it  is  stated, 
have  been  more  respectable  for  numbers,  character,  talent,  and  property.  Such 
indeed  had  been  the  active  exertions  of  Colonel  Troup,  and  such  his  weight 
of  character  and  influence,  that  he  was  appointed  chairman  of  the  meeting. 
Mr.  Nathaniel  Rochester,  another  gentleman  of  great  influence,  and  who  has 
since  that  period  filled  several  important  public  stations,  was  appointed  secre- 
tary. The  meeting  being  organized,  and  the  objects  of  it  announced  by  Col. 
Troup,  Gideon  Granger,  Esq.  the  late  post  master  general,  rose  and  addressed 
it  in  a  very  eloquent  and  able  speech,  on  the  momentous  object  for  which 
that  meeting  had  been  convened.  Mr.  Granger's  speech  being  finished,  a 
number  of  important  resolutions,  drawn  up  by  Myron  Holley,*  afterwards 
one  of  the  canal  commissioners,  and  distinguished  for  his  valuable  services 
throughout  the  whole  progress  of  the  great  work  which  has  been  achieved, 
were  offered  by  John  Greig,  Esq.  another  active  friend  and  liberal  contributor 
to  the  canal,  and  were  unanimously  passed.  Those  resolutions  exhibited  with 
great  force,  the  incalculable  advantages  that  would-  necessarily  flow  from  a 
canal  navigation  between  Lake  Erie  and  the  Hudson.    Of  these  resolutions  a 


*  In  a  letter  addressed  to  Colonel  Troup,  by  John  Greig,  Esq.  dated  Canandaigua, 
olst  May,  1828,  he  observes :  "  To  Mr.  Holley,  more  than  to  any  one  else,  are  we  indebted 
for  that  meeting,  and  for  the  popularity  which  the  canal  policy  immediately  afterwards  ac- 
quired in  the  western  part  of  the  state.  Indeed  I  have  always  been  satisfied  that  his  intelli- 
gence and  zeal,  and  unwearied  exertions  both  of  mind  and  body  on  the  subject,  from  the 
moment  of  his  appointment  as  a  canal  commissioner,  essentially  contributed  to  bring  the  Erie 
Canal  to  a  successful  completion." 


APPENDIX. 


425 


correspondent  observes,  "that  both  in  matter  and  style,  they  may  justly  be 
denominated  a  near  relation  of  Mr.  Clinton's  celebrated  Memorial."  The 
valuable  document  containing  those  resolutions  is  subjoined.  The  proceed- 
ings of  this  meeting,  as  may  readily  be  supposed,  made  a  deep  impression  on 
the  public  mind,  and  powerfully  contributed  to  the  enlightened  policy  which 
the  legislature  subsequently  embraced.  After  this  meeting,  a  memorial  to  the 
legislature  from  the  inhabitants  of  Geneva,  in  order  still  further  to  sustain  the 
efforts  making  in  other  parts  of  the  state,  in  recommendation  of  the  canal 
policy,  was  drawn  by  Colonel  Troup,  who  greatly  exerted  himself  to  have  it 
supported  by  numerous  signatures.  These,  with  other  important  services 
rendered  by  an  extensive  correspondence  with  Mr.  Clinton,  Thomas  Eddy, 
and  the  other  canal  commissioners,  as  well  as  other  gentlemen  interested  in  the 
canal  navigation  of  the  state,  entitle  Colonel  Troup  to  the  gratitude  of 
his  fellow-citizens. 


Resolutions  passed  at  the  Ontario  County  Meeting. 

At  a  numerous  and  very  respectable  meeting  of  gentlemen  from  most  of  the  towns  in  Onta- 
rio County,  held  at  the  court-house  in  Canandaigua,  on  Wednesday  the  3th  January  inst. 
pursuant  to  public  notice,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  into  consideration  the  project  of  a 
canal,  between  Lake  Erie  and  the  Hudson. 

The  objects  for  which  the  meeting  had  been  called,  were  concisely  explained  by  the 
chairman,  who  seeing  that  one  of  the  canal  commissioners  was  present,  intimated  an  expec- 
tation that  he  would  communicate  such  facts  as  had  come  to  his  knowledge  during  the  exam- 
inations and  inquiries  of  the  last  season,  applicable  to  those  objects.  Whereupon  Mr.  Ilolley 
gave  some  account  of  the  proceedings  of  the  present  board  of  commissioners,  pointed  out  a 
route  for  the  canal,  and  stated,  more  especially  in  reference  to  the  western  parts  of  that  route, 
the  principal  difficulties  to  be  met  with,  and  the  manner  in  which  they  might  be  overcome. 
He  also  mentioned  several  facts  tending  to  a  conviction  that  the  expense  of  this  enterprise 
would  not  exceed  the  estimate  of  former  commissioners.  A  respectable  member,  then  ob- 
serving Mr.  Granger  in  the  assembly,  remarked,  that,  from  the  former  official  situation  of 
that  gentleman,  his  extensive  local  and  general  information,  and  the  interest  he  had  always 
manifested  in  internal  improvements,  the  subject  before  the  meeting  must  be  familiar  to  his 
mjnd,  and  he  hoped  we  should  be  favoured  with  his  opinions  upon  it.    The  chairman  ex- 


426 


APPENDIX. 


pressing  the  same  hope,  Mr.  Granger  rose,  and  in  a  luminous,  learned,  argumentative,  and 
eloquent  speech,  occupied  the  attention  of  the  meeting  for  about  two  hours,  exhibiting  the 
most  irresistible  motives  of  justice,  policy,  and  prudence,  as  demanding  an  immediate  and 
effectual  effort  for  the  construction  of  this  canal  on  the  part  of  our  rulers.  No  sketch  of  this 
speech  is  here  attempted,  because  it  will  probably  be  published.*  The  following  resolutions, 
proposed  to  the  meeting  and  read  by  Mr.  Greig,  were  then  considered,  and  unanimously 
adopted,  viz. 

Resolved,  That  this  meeting,  from  the  personal  knowledge  of  many  of  its  members,  the 
published  reports  of  former  canal  commissioners,  and  the  more  particular  information  com- 
municated to  thern,  by  persons  engaged  during  the  last  season  in  exploring  the  country,  have 
the  most  entire  conviction  of  its  being  practicable,  without  an  exorbitant  expenditure,  to  open 
a  navigable  canal,  from  Lake  Erie  .to  the  Hudson  River ;  and  that  the  strongest  reasons,  of 
profit  and  policy  unite  in  requiring  that  Lake  Ontario  should  not  constitute  any  part  of  the 
direct  route  of  such  canal. 

Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  meeting,  the  interests  of  the  United  States  would  be 
greatly  promoted  by  the  construction  of  this  canal ; 

Inasmuch  as  it  would  immediately  enhance  the  value  of  land  beyond  the  Ohio,  enlarge  the 
spirit  of  forming  new  settlements  there,  and  afford  to  that  extensive  section  of  our  country 
all  the  advantages  of  a  safer  and  more  economical  road  to  market  than  it  can  otherwise 
enjoy; 

Inasmuch  as  it  would  secure  to  our  own  citizens  the  entire  benefits  of  an  inland  com- 
merce, of  which  that  portion  enjoyed  by  our  northern  neighbours  during  the  last  ten  years, 
has  given  to  the  provinces  of  Upper  and  Lower  Canada,  more  wealth  than  all  other  causes 
combined,  and  of  which  the  future  extent  will  almost  exceed  calculation ; 

Inasmuch  as  by  laying  the  sure  foundation  of  an  unrivalled  interior  navigation  interest ; 
by  spreading  suddenly,  to  the  utmost  western  limits  of  the  waters  of  the  great  lakes,  a  hardy, 
enterprising,  flourishing  and  numerous  population;  and  by  pffering  the  greatest  possible 
facility  for  transporting,  wherever  they  might  be  wanted,  in  that  direction,  all  the  munitions 
of  war,  it  would  be  the  most  efficient  instrument  imaginable,  of  giving  to  the  whole  line  of 
our  north  and  north-western  frontier,  that  security,  which,  in  every  well  governed  commu- 
nity, is  the  first  object  of  good  policy ;  and. 

Inasmuch  as  it  would  diffuse,  multiply  and  strengthen,  incalculably,  all  the  ties  of  interest 
and  sympathy,  by  which  every  good  American  hopes  that  the  union  and  prosperity  of  his 
country  will  be  perpetuated. 

Moreover,  having  seen  appropriated  from  the  public  funds,  which  we  have  been  taxed,  in 


*  His  speech  has  been  published  and  extensively  circulated. — D.  H. 


APPENDIX. 


427 


common  with  others,  to  provide  large  sums,  to  secure  to  our  south-western  fellow-citizens, 
the  right  of  a  free  passage  to  the  ocean,  and  to  cherish,  protect,  and  extend  the  commercial 
interests  of  our  Atlantic  brethren, 

Resolved,  That  it  appears  to  us  necessary  to  the  substantial  existence  of  that  equity, 
which  regards  with  equal  favour  every  portion  of  the  same  people,  that  the  United  States 
should  aid  in  the  construction  of  this  canal  by  a  liberal  appropriation. 

But,  as  it  is  apparent  that  there  is  no  district  of  our  country  in  which  projects  of  im- 
provement, by  roads  and  canals,  are  not  entertained,  the  completion  of  which,  in  many 
instances,  we  have  no  doubt  would  be  of  great  public  utility, 

Resolved,  That,  in  our  opinion,  it  would  well  become  the  wisdom  of  the  national  legisla- 
ture to  form,  at  once,  and  prosecute  with  vigour,  a  system  of  internal  improvement,  adapted 
to  the  whole  extent  of  our  territory,  and  calculated,  as  much  as  possible,  to  make  general  all 
those  blessings  which  nature  has  lavished  upon  particular  regions ;  and  that  we  would  cheer- 
fully bear  our  proportion  of  all  the  burthens  connected  with  the  establishment  of  such  a 
system. 

Resolved,  That  as  friends  to  the  great  interests  of  the  state  of  New- York,  we  anticipate 
a  long  train  of  the  most  gratifying  effects,  as  inevitably  resulting  from  the  construction  of 
this  canal — effects  that  would  speedily  advance  the  public  good,  and  permanently  identify 
themselves  with  it  in  every  possible  shape.  This  canal  would  promote  the  interests  of  the 
western  district, 

By  reducing  the  expense  of  transportation  so  much  as  to  confer,  upon  many  of  our  heavy 
and  bulky  articles  now  entirely  excluded  from  every  market,  a  value,  in  the  aggregate,  of 
great  amount ; 

By  giving  to  all  other  articles  produced  in  the  country  a  large  additional  value  ; 
By  lessening  the  price  of  all  imported  articles  ; 

By  raising  the  price  of  our  lands,  and  conducing  most  efficaciously  to  their  settlement  and 
cultivation ; 

By  indirectly,  though  surely,  effecting  the  utmost  possible  improvement  in  the  navigation 
of  the  St.  Lawrence ; 

By  enlarging  vastly  the  market  for  our  plaster  and  salt,  of  which  last  article,  the  quantity 
manufactured,  and  the  expense  of  it  to  the  consumer,  must  always  depend  upon  the  facility 
of  supplying,  at  the  salt-works,  the  necessary  fuel;  and  therefore, 

By  opening  to  an  almost  interminable  extent,  the  most  economical  road  possible  to  wood 
and  coal. 

It  would  promote  the  interests  of  the  middle  and  eastern  districts, 

By  supplying  them  with  the  necessary  articles,  salt  and  plaster,  cheaper  than  they  could 
otherwise  obtain  them,  and 
By  diminishing  the  amount  of  their  proportion  of  the  public  taxes. 


428 


APPENDIX. 


It  would  promote  the  interests  of  the  southern  district, 

By  locating  there  chiefly  the  warehouses  and  the  agents  of  that  extensive  commerce, 
which  must  necessarily  grow  out  of  the  increasing  wants  and  means,  not  merely  of  the  west- 
ern parts  of  this  state,  but  of  all  that  wide  and  fertile  country  which  lies  between  the  Ohio, 
the  Mississippi,  and  the  lakes.  In  addition  to  these  local  benefits,  of  which  the  list  might  be 
almost  indefinitely  lengthened,  and  which  it  is  easy  to  perceive,  would  abundantly  swell  the 
tide  of  general  prosperity,  the  state  at  large  would  derive  advantage  from  the  construction 
of  this  canal, 

By  its  increasing  the  value  of  her  unsold  lands ; 

By  its  drawing  through  her  whole  extent,  from  many  different  nations,  an  incalculable 
mass  of  valuable  commodities,  which  could  not  fail,  in  various  ways,  to  scatter  wealth  and 
animate  industry  throughout  their  course ; 

By  its  giving,  universally,  a  new  activity  and  expansion  to  her  commerce,  agriculture,  and 
manufactures  ;  and  finally, 

By  its  becoming  the  right  arm  of  her  power,  the  inexhaustible  mine  of  her  wealth,  and  the 
prevalent  asserter  of  her  rights. 

Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  meeting,  the  whole  expense  of  this  enterprise  might 
be  soon  repaid,  in  a  manner  eminently  calculated  to  encourage  important  interior  interests, 
without  discouraging  those  that  are  exterior,  by  imposing  a  rate  of  lockage,  very  low  upon 
all  exported  articles,  and  much  higher  upon  all  articles  imported. 

Resolved,  That  while  we  are  deeply  impressed  with  the  prospective  blessings  of  the  canal 
between  Lake  Erie  and  the  Hudson,  we  are  not  insensible  to  the  benefits  that  would  accrue 
to  this  state  and  the  union,  from  a  navigable  connexion  between  the  said  river  and  Lake 
Champlain,  and  also,  from  the  project,  by  which  it  is  proposed  to  connect  the  waters  of  the 
Seneca  Lake  with  those  of  the  Susquehannah ;  and  that  we  are  disposed  to  aid,  wherever  we 
have  influence,  in  the  accomplishment  of  these  valuable  improvements. 

Resolved,  That  Robert  Troup,  John  Nicholas,  Gideon  Granger,  Nathaniel,  W.  Howell, 
and  Nathaniel  Rochester,  be  a  committee  for  the  purpose  of  laying  before  the  congress  of 
the  United  States  and  the  legislature  of  this  state,  the  views  and  wishes  of  the  people  of  this 
county,  upon  this  important  subject;  and  also  for  publishing  these  resolutions,  and  trans- 
mitting copies  of  them  to  such  other  counties  in  the  state,  as  in  their  opinion,  will  feel  an 
interest  in  promoting  the  great  objects  of  this  meeting. 

ROBERT  TROUP,  Chairman. 
NATHANIEL  ROCHESTER,  Secretary. 

The  effect  produced  by  these  resolutions,  in  connexion  with  the  able  speech 
delivered  by  Mr.  Granger,  as  will  readily  be  supposed,  operated  very  power- 


APPENDIX. 


429 


fully  in  sustaining  the  measures  then  before  the  legislature;  the  following 
commendation  of  the  labours  and  services  of  Mr.  Hollcy,  from  the  pen  of  Taci- 
tus, is  justly  due  to  that  gentleman. 

"  Mr.  Hollcy,"  says  Tacitus,  "  was  a  member  of  the  legislature  w  hen  the  initiatory  canal 
law  was  passed,  which  he  advocated  with  the  whole  force  of  his  talents.  This  gentleman  is 
a  member  of  a  numerous  family  distinguished  for  genius.  His  mind  is  improved  by  reading, 
reflection,  and  conversation,  and  is  distinguished  for  extensive  research,  and  acute  discrimi- 
nation. He  has  devoted  his  whole  time  and  attention,  mind  and  body,  to  the  canal ;  and 
some  of  the  most  luminous  reports  and  communications  have  proceeded  from  his  pen.  What- 
ever he  touches,  he  adorns,  and  whenever  he  speaks  or  writes,  he  instructs.  His  mild  and 
conciliatory  manners,  his  elevated  character,  his  spotless  integrity,  and  his  indefatigable 
business  talents,  have  rendered  his  services  as  an  acting  canal  commissioner,  invaluable." 


Note  CC— p.  105. 

In  reply  to  the  following  request,  preferred  to  Colonel  W.  L.  Stone,  the 
editor  of  the  Commercial  Advertiser,  that  gentleman  has  kindly  favoured  me 
with  the  subjoined  valuable  communication,  containing  very  interesting  de- 
tails upon  each  subject  to  which  his  attention  was  requested,  and  which  can- 
not fail  to  receive  the  notice  and  approbation  of  all  who  feel  an  interest  in  the 
great  event  to  which  they  relate. 

New- York,  February,  12th,  1829. 

Dear  Sir, 

I  am  fully  aware  of  the  important  legislative  services  that  were  ren- 
dered in  the  years  1816  and  1817,  by  the  gentlemen  referred  to  in  my  Dis- 
course, and  by  some  others  whom  I  omitted  to  notice  upon  that  occasion,  and 
whose  services  are  no  less  entitled  to  grateful  consideration,  viz.  the  Hon. 
Abraham  Van  Vechten,  Elisha  Williams,  Esq.  and  my  friend  the  late  Judge 
Pendleton. 

As  you  were  in  Albany  during  those  memorable  sessions  of  the  legislature, 
52 


430 


APPENDIX. 


and  reported  the  proceedings  of  the  two  houses,  and  the  most  important 
speeches  that  were  delivered  in  the  course  of  the  debates  which  took  place  in 
the  years  referred  to,  I  will  esteem  it  a  favour  if  you  will  communicate  to  me 
a  summary  of  your  reports  of  the  proceedings  of  the  legislature  in  1816  and 
1817,  relative  to  the  Erie  and  Champlain  Canals,  which  I  may  be  permitted 
to  introduce  among  the  documents  collected  upon  this  subject. 

I  am,  dear  sir,  your  friend, 

DAVID  HOSACK. 

William  L.  Stone,  Esq. 
Editor  of  the  Commercial  Advertiser. 


New- York,  Feb.  20,  1829. 

Deak  Sir, 

You  have  honoured  me  with  a  request  that  I  would  furnish  you  a  sketch 
of  the  legislative  history  of  the  great  projects  for  the  Erie  and  Champlain 
Canals,  in  the  years  1816  and  1817,  together  with  notices  of  the  leading  mem- 
bers of  the  legislature  during  those  years,  who  were  friendly  to  the  enterprise, 
and  whose  labours  were  exerted  most  efficiently  in  the  cause  which  has  been 
crowned  with  such  splendid  success.  Although  my  opportunities  for  acquiring 
a  competent  knowledge  of  the  history  of  our  canal  system,  have  not  been 
limited,  yet  it  is  with  unaffected  sincerity  that  I  apprise  you  of  my  fears  that 
I  shall  not  be  able  to  execute  the  task  imposed  by  your  request,  in  a  manner 
that  will  at  once  do  justice  to  the  subject,  and  the  gentlemen  concerned,  and 
at  the  same  time  reflect  no  discredit  upon  the  volume  which  I  understand  you 
have  in  preparation  for  the  public  eye.  I  fear,  moreover,  that  it  will  be  im- 
possible to  compress  the  history  of  the  canal  measures  of  1816 — 17,  and  trace 
the  progress  of  the  acts  of  those  years  through  both  houses  of  the  legislature, 
preserving,  moreover,  the  sketches  of  the  debates  of  the  latter  session,  included 
in  your  request,  and  which  were  written  down  by  me  at  the  time,  within  the 
reasonable  bounds  which  you  may  suppose.  Still,  however,  in  the  hope,  per- 
haps a  vain  one,  that  I  shall  be  able  to  contribute  something  towards  the  ma- 
terials for  a  future  history  of  the  internal  improvements  of  my  native  state, 


APPENDIX. 


431 


and  also  to  furnish  a  modicum  of  matter  not  altogether  deficient  in  interest 
to  the  reader  of  the  present  day,  I  cheerfully  attempt  a  compliance  with  your 
wishes. 

Knowing  full  well  that  your  own  personal  knowledge,  added  to  your  patient 
researches,  have  rendered  you  familiar  with  the  incipient  measures  from  time 
to  time  adopted  by  the  state,  with  a  view  to  the  stupendous  public  works  of 
which  I  am  to  speak,  I  shall  come  at  once  to  the  very  letter  of  your  request, 
and  begin  with  the  legislature  of  1816. 

The  legislature  commenced  its  session  on  the  2d  of  February.  There  had 
for  six  years  been  a  board  of  commissioners  to  make  the  necessary  examina- 
tions and  surveys,  with  a  view  to  the  projected  canals.  The  gentlemen  in 
commission  at  this  time,  were,  Gouverneur  Morris,  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  De 
Witt  Clinton,  Simeon  De  Witt,  William  North,  Thomas  Eddy,  Peter  B.  Por- 
ter, and  Charles  D.  Cooper.  In  his  opening  speech  to  the  legislature,  Gover- 
nor Tompkins  adverted  to  the  subject  of  internal  improvement  by  means  of 
roads  and  canals,  and  spoke  particularly  of  the  latter  as  follows  : 

"  It  will  rest  with  the  legislature  whether  the  prospect  of  connecting  the  waters  of  the 
Hudson  with  those  of  the  western  lakes  and  of  Lake  Champlain,  is  not  sufficiently  important 
to  demand  the  appropriation  of  some  part  of  the  revenues  of  the  state  to  its  accomplish- 
ment, without  imposing  too  great  a  burthen  upon  our  constituents.  The  first  route  being 
an  object  common  with  the  states  of  the  west,  we  may  rely  on  their  zealous  co-operation  in 
any  judicious  plan  that  can  perfect  the  water  communication  in  that  direction.  As  it  relates 
to  the  connecting  the  waters  of  the  Hudson  with  those  of  Champlain,  we  may  with  equal 
confidence  count  on  the  spirited  exertions  of  the  patriotic  and  enterprising  state  of  Ver- 
mont." 

This  portion  of  the  speech  of  his  excellency  was  referred  by  a  concurrent 
resolution,  to  a  joint  committee  of  both  houses,  consisting  of  Messrs.  Ross, 
Tibbitts,  Swift,  and  Peter  R.  Liv  ingston,  on  the  part  of  the  senate ;  and 
Messrs.  Oakley,  W.  Thompson,  Lynch,  Mooers,  Holley,  Ford,  and  Warner,  on 
the  part  of  the  assembly.  The  resolution  having  originated  in  the  senate, 
Mr.  Ross  would  of  course  have  been  the  chairman  of  the  joint  committee ; 
but  from  a  pressure  of  business  in  the  Court  of  Errors,  he  yielded  the  situation, 
and  Mr.  Oakley  was  selected  as  the  head  of  the  committee  in  his  place.  It 


432 


APPENDIX. 


is  due  to  Mr.  Ross,  however,  to  state,  that  although  Orange,  his  own  county, 
was  at  that  time,  perhaps,  more  strongly  than  any  other,  opposed  to  the  canal 
project,  yet  he  had  the  independence  to  act  uniformly  with  its  friends,  during 
the  whole  period  of  his  service  in  the  senate. 

On  the  21st  of  February,  the  memorial  of  Cadwallader  D.  Colden  and 
others,  of  the  city  of  New- York,  in  favour  of  the  great  work,  was  presented 
and  referred  to  the  committee.  This  memorial  was  a  masterly  document, 
and  deserves  a  proud  rank  among  the  splendid  remains  of  the  capacious  in- 
tellect of  its  author — De  Witt  Clinton.  On  the  1st  of  March,  a  memorial  to 
the  same  effect  was  presented  from  the  mayor,  aldermen  and  commonalty  of 
New-York ;  and  numerous  others  came  pouring  in  from  most  of  the  prin- 
cipal towns  and  villages  in  the  interior. 

There  was  at  that  time  an  opposition,  which  was  strong  and  general,  to  the 
canal  project,  among  the  representatives  and  the  people  of  the  river  counties 
of  the  Hudson,  and  upon  Long  Island ;  and  this  opposition  was  strengthened 
by  an  apprehension,  that,  even  if  this  work  was  practicable,  the  opening  a 
cheap,  direct,  and  easy  water  communication  to  the  rich  garden  of  the  west, 
would  injure  the  market  for  their  own  produce,  by  an  excess  of  supply.  They 
had  no  conception  of  the  rapid  growth  of  New-York,  nor  could  they  be  per- 
suaded that  its  increase  would  be  proportionably  accelerated  by  every  new 
source  of  production  opened  to  its  market.  There  were  others,  sound  and 
intelligent  men,  and  accomplished  legislators,  who  paused  and  hesitated,  if 
they  did  not  oppose,  a  project  of  such  vast  magnitude,  and  which,  of  course, 
must  be  undertaken  as  an  experiment.  Others,  again,  though  by  no  means 
hostile  to  the  project,  feared  the  expense  during  the  years  of  pecuniary  and 
commercial  pressure  which  succeeded  the  first  flush  of  business  at  the  close  of 
the  war.  They  were  not  inimical  to  the  cause  of  internal  improvement,  but 
believed  it  was  yet  too  soon  for  the  state,  single  handed,  to  commence  works 
of  such  extent.  Of  this  class  were  Mr.  Oakley,  Mr.  Duer,  and  others,  during 
the  present  session,  and  Judges  Pendleton  and  Emmott,  and  some  others,  dur- 
ing the  session  of  the  ensuing  year.  It  was  from  this  cause,  probably,  that  on 
the  27th  of  February,  Mr.  Oakley,  at  his  own  request,  was  discharged  from 
the  canal  committee,  of  which  he  was  chairman,  and  Colonel  (now  General) 


APPENDIX. 


433 


Jacob  Rutsen  Van  Rensselaer  appointed  in  his  place.  Colonel  Van  Rensse- 
laer was  one  of  the  most  early,  ardent,  and,  as  it  proved,  efficient  friends  of  the 
project  in  the  state  ;  and  it  is  a  rule  of  parliamentary  courtesy,  that  the  chair- 
man, and  a  majority  of  the  committee,  shall  be  selected  from  the  friends  of  the 
subjects  referred. 

On  the  8th  of  March,  the  canal  commissioners  before  mentioned,  made 
their  annual  report  to  the  legislature.  During  the  war  it  had  been  impossible 
for  them  to  prosecute  the  objects  of  their  appointment ;  but  fully  convinced 
of  the  practicability  and  importance  of  the  work,  and  the  necessity  of  taking 
measures  to  divert  the  trade  of  the  west  from  passing  down  the  St.  Lawrence, 
they  recommended  the  adoption  "  of  such  preliminary  measures  as  might  be 
necessary  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  important  object."  This  report  was 
signed  by  all  the  commissioners  excepting  Gouverneur  Morris,  who,  it  has 
been  said,  was  displeased  with  sundry  alterations  in  the  draft  which  he  pre- 
pared, and  consequently  withheld  his  name. 

On  the  21st,  Colonel  Van  Rensselaer,  from  the  joint  committee  having  the 
subject  in  charge,  presented  an  able  report  in  favour  of  the  immediate  com- 
mencement of  both  canals,  and  introduced  a  bill  for  that  purpose.  From  this 
excellent  report  I  have  transcribed  the  following  passage  which  has  already 
proved  prophetical. 

"  The  beneficial  results  to  arise  from  the  completion  of  this  navigation,  can  scarcely  be  cal- 
culated by  the  most  sanguine  of  its  advocates.  A  country,  capable  of  sustaining  as  dense 
a  population  as  any  section  of  the  globe,  embracing  many  millions  of  acres,  will  pour  its 
productions  and  its  wealth  into  the  heart  of  our  commercial  emporium,  diffusing  bless- 
ings of  every  description  to  every  part  of  this  great  and  important  state  ;  connecting  the 
interests  of  this,  and  the  states  in  the  north-western  section  of  the  union,  so  intimately  as 
to  promise  permanence  and  stability  to  the  system  of  government  established  by  us,  and  on 
which  all  must  rely  for  the  political  prosperity  and  happiness  of  these  United  States." 

An  unsuccessful  effort  was  made  by  the  chairman  of  the  committee,  to  have 
the  bill  taken  up  on  the  20th  of  March.  On  the  3d  of  April,  however,  the 
house  resolved  itself  into  a  committee  of  the  whole  upon  the  bill,  as  the  first 
business  in  the  morning — a  very  unusual  circumstance — Mr.  Duer  in  the 
chair. 


434 


APPENDIX. 


The  city  of  Albany  had  long  been  crowded  with  people  from  every  section 
of  the  state,  who  visited  the  capital  from  various  and  opposite  motives.  Some 
spoke  against  the  proposed  canals,  on  account  of  their  great  expense.  The 
fortunes  of  others  were  to  be  ruined  by  their  success.  Active  members  of  the 
lobby  for  and  against  the  measure,  used  every  argument  that  could  be  brought 
to  bear  upon  the  side  of  the  question  which  they  had  respectively  espoused ; 
and  the  general  feeling  had  become  greatly  excited  at  the  time  the  bill 
was  first  brought  forward.  All  knew  that  the  defence  of  the  bill  was  in 
able  hands.  Jacob  R.utsen  Van  Rensselaer,  a  gentleman  of  fine  talents  and 
attainments,  had  long  been  in  public  life,  and  was  known  as  one  of  the  most 
accomplished  and  skilful  legislators  in  the  country  ;  and  the  friends  of  the 
bill  hoped  as  much  from  his  exertions,  as  its  enemies  feared.  Neither  were 
disappointed.  The  committee  having  been  called  to  order,  and  the  bill  read, 
Col.  Van  Rensselaer  rose  and  addressed  the  committee  at  length,  and  directly 
and  eloquently  in  its  favour.  It  was  this  bill  which,  notwithstanding  all  sub- 
sequent modifications,  was  the  foundation  for  those  enactments  that  finally 
crowned  the  stupendous  undertaking  with  success.  Having  made  himself 
accurately  acquainted  with  the  subject  in  all  its  bearings,  he  sketched  with  a 
master  hand  the  advantages  of  the  contemplated  route — the  character  and 
localities  of  the  country — the  probable  and  the  possible  cost — disclosed  the 
rich  and  ample  resources  of  the  state — raised  the  curtain  of  futurity,  and  pre- 
sented a  bright  vision  of  the  utility  that  would  accrue,  and  the  glory  that  would 
redound  to  the  state  and  the  nation  at  large,  in  peace  and  in  war,  from  these 
works — and  triumphantly  obviated  all  objections  which  he  supposed  could  be 
raised  against  it.  He  appealed  manfully  to  all  present  to  bear  witness  to  his 
candour  and  liberality,  since  he  was  the  representative  of  a  county  lying  on 
our  greatest  navigable  river,  and  having  already  direct  intercourse  with  the  city 
of  New-York,  at  a  very  cheap  rate.  He  admitted  frankly  that,  the  great  canal 
once  finished,  the  facility  of  communication,  added  to  the  cheapness  of  the 
fertile  lands  at  the  west,  would  bring  the  farmers  from  thence  into  the  New- 
York  market,  on  equal,  if  not  more  than  equal  terms,  with  those  of  Dutchess, 
Columbia,  &c. ;  but  at  the  same  time,  with  the  forecast  of  a  statesman,  he 
predicted  the  inevitable  result  which  the  increase  of  business  would  have  upon 


APPENDIX. 


435 


the  growth  of  New-York — that  of  creating  demand  vvitli  the  increase  of  sup- 
ply. His  whole  manner,  which  is  courteous  and  dignified,  betrayed  the  strongest 
anxiety  for  the  success  of  the  bill,  and  the  utmost  sincerity  and  disinterested- 
ness on  his  own  part.  lie  spoke  like  the  friend  and  guardian  of  the  great  interests 
of  the  state.  When  he  closed,  it  was  evident  he  had  made  a  strong  impres- 
sion upon  all  present ;  and  in  the  subsequent  discussions  of  the  details  of  the 
bill,  he  bore  himself  in  the  same  frank,  fearless,  and  independent  manner. — 
His  honest  zeal,  and  his  manly  efforts  in  the  great  cause,  deserve  to  be  long 
and  gratefully  remembered  by  the  people  of  this  state. 

The  consideration  of  the  bill  was  resumed  in  committee  of  the  whole,  on 
the  5th — Mr.  Beach,  of  Cayuga,  also  an  active  friend  of  the  canal,  in  the  chair. 
Mr.  Duer  this  day  moved  to  strike  out  the  clause  authorising  the  commission- 
ers "  to  commence  the  work  at  such  time  and  place  as  they  might  think 
proper."  The  bill  was  again  taken  up  on  the  10th — Mr.  Ostrander,  of  Albany, 
in  the  chair.  During  this  day's  discussion,  Mr.  Duer  proposed  a  substitute 
for  the  bill,  intended  only  to  authorise  accurate  surveys  and  estimates,  &c.  and 
also  an  application  to  the  general  government,  to  states,  and  individuals,  for 
assistance  in  donations,  grants  of  land,  &c. ;  which,  after  much  debate,  was 
lost,  GO  to  51.  Mr.  Oakley  then  proposed  an  amendment,  authorising  the  com- 
mencing of  the  work,  but  not  until  after  the  next  succeeding  session  of  the 
legislature.  This  amendment  was  also  lost,  56  to  53  ;  but  the  chairman  of 
the  committee,  and  the  friends  of  an  immediate  prosecution  of  the  enterprise, 
now  found  themselves  sustained  by  such  small  majorities,  that  they  began  to 
tremble  for  the  result ;  and  the  proceedings  of  the  following  day  gave  them 
still  more  anxiety.  For  on  the  11th,  the  house  in  committee  of  the  whole,  re- 
considered their  vote  rejecting  Mr.  Duer's  substitute,  and  the  same  was  adopted 
by  a  vote  of  55  to  52.  The  same  day  the  committee  of  the  whole  was  dis- 
charged from  the  further  consideration  of  the  bill,  and  it  was  referred  to  a 
select  committee,  consisting  of  Mr.  Oakley,  Mr.  Peter  A.  Jay,  Mr.  Leaven- 
worth, (then  Colonel,  and  now  General  Leavenworth,)  of  the  Army,  Mr.  Russell, 
and  Mr.  Vandcrpool,  (now  Judge  Vandcrpool,)  of  Kinderhook. 

The  fate  of  the  bill  was  now  considered  more  critical  than  ever.  And, 
though  ably  and  efficiently  sustained  by  General  James  Lynch,  of  Oneida,  and 


436 


APPENDIX. 


others,  Colonel  Van  Rensselaer  had  a  host  to  encounter,  in  the  persons  of 
Messrs.  Oakley  and  Duer,  of  Dutchess ;  though,  as  I  have  before  intimated, 
neither  of  these  gentlemen  were  so  inimical  to  the  measure,  as  they  were  to  the 
premature  period  at  which,  as  they  believed,  it  was  proposed  to  commence  it. 
In  the  origin  of  almost  every  great  public  measure,  men  of  even  the  best  judg- 
ment and  soundest  heads,  will  entertain  honest  differences  of  opinion,  con- 
cerning time,  place,  expediency,  &c.  Such  had  long  been  the  fact  in  this 
state,  in  regard  to  the  canal  project.  Of  those  who  stood  in  this  posture  on 
the  present  occasion,  the  gentlemen  last  mentioned  were  at  the  head.  Both 
occupied  a  proud  rank  as  men  of  talents,  possessing  fine  parliamentary  ad- 
dress. In  the  legislature  then,  as  often  afterwards,  Mr.  Oakley  was  distin- 
guished by  the  same  cool  and  dispassionate  manner,  the  same  clearness  of 
argument  and  acuteness  of  perception,  which  have  uniformly  distinguished 
him  at  the  bar,  and  which  now  render  him  the  ornament  of  the  bench.  His 
manner  was  always  frank,  easy,  and  unostentatious,  and  by  his  patience  and 
untiring  vigilance,  he  had  deservedly  acquired  vast  influence  in  the  house. 
So  also  with  his  colleague,  Mr.  Duer,  (now  judge  of  the  third  circuit.)  Uniting 
with  superior  talents,  a  graceful  and  imposing  parliamentary  manner ; 
always  disclosing  his  views  with  perfect  candour  and  sincerity ;  scorning  all 
the  minor  artifices  of  legislation,  and  bringing  to  the  work  a  thorough  know- 
ledge of  whatever  subject  he  undertook  to  discuss ;  he  also  had  deservedly 
acquired  a  large  share  of  the  confidence  of  the  legislature  ; — and  under  the 
influence  of  such  commanding  powers,  and  such  address,  it  is  not  surprising 
that  the  members  were  induced  still  again  to  pause  and  reflect  before  they 
authorised  the  "  passage  of  the  Rubicon,"  if  this  figure  may  be  allowed. 

The  select  committee,  to  whom  the  bill  had  been  referred,  after  having  been 
so  essentially  changed  in  its  features,  and  taken  from  the  committee  of  the 
whole,  as  before  stated,  reported,  on  the  12th,  Mr.  Duer's  substitute,  with  sun- 
dry amendments.  The  selection  of  the  committee  on  this  occasion,  was  pe- 
culiarly fortunate,  since,  being  a  member  of  the  committee,  and  an  ardent  friend 
of  the  project,  it  brought  Mr.  Jay  out  more  actively  in  the  cause,  than  he 
would  otherwise,  perhaps,  have  deemed  it  his  duty  to  engage.  The  com- 
manding talents,  and  high  personal  character  of  Mr.  Jay,  the  wisdom  of  his 


APPENDIX. 


437 


remarks,  and  the  affability  and  courtesy  of  his  demeanour,  were  circumstan- 
ces eminently  calculated  to  favour  the  cause  which  he  now  vigorously  es- 
poused. And  the  force  of  his  powers  was  soon  felt.  The  consideration  of 
the  bill,  in  its  amended  form,  was  resumed  in  committee  of  the  whole,  on  the 
13th,  in  the  morning  5  when,  after  an  animated  debate,  the  first  section  was 
adopted.    It  was  again  taken  up  in  the  evening  session  of  the  same  day. 

It  was  during  this  sitting  that  a  proposition  for  a  local  tax  upon  the 
lands,  twenty-five  miles  in  breadth,  along  the  line  of  the  middle  section,  was 
offered  by  Mr.  Oakley,  and  adopted.  This  proposition  tended  very  much  to' 
soften  and  abate  the  fears  and  opposition  of  many  members,  who  represented 
those  counties,  which  it  was  supposed  would  be  less  particularly  benefitted 
by  the  canals.  From  this  moment  things  once  more  assumed  a  brighter  aspect. 
A  great  variety  of  amendments  were  made  to  the  bill,  by  which  the  canal  was 
to  be  commenced,  but  the  operations  of  the  commissioners  were  confined  to 
the  middle  section,  extending  from  Rome  to  the  Seneca  River ;  the  expendi- 
tures were  limited  to  250,000  dollars  per  annum  ;  the  commissioners  were 
appointed  for  eight  years  ;  and  the  whole  amount  of  money  appropriated  to 
the  object,  was  2,000,000  dollars.  The  commissioners  named  in  the  bill  were, 
De  Witt  Clinton,  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  Townsend  M'Coun,  Melancthon 
Wheeler,  Henry  Seymour,  Joseph  Ellicott,  Jacob  Rutsen  Van  Rensselaer, 
Philip  I.  Schuyler,  Samuel  Young,  John  Nicholas,  William  Bayard,  George 
Huntington,  and  Nathan  Smith.  In  this  shape,  substantially,  it  passed  the 
assembly,  by  a  vote  of  83  to  10,  and  was  sent  to  the  senate  for  concurrence. 

The  bill  was  taken  up  in  committee  of  the  whole  of  the  senate,  on  the 
16th,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Van  Vechten.  On  motion  of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  it  was 
amended  by  striking  out  all  those  parts  which  went  to  authorise  the  com- 
mencement of  the  work,  and  making  it  altogether  preparatory,  by  directing 
the  procurement  of  more  accurate  surveys  and  estimates.  The  reasons  for 
this  course  were  stated  by  Mr.  Van  Buren  at  considerable  length.  It  being 
evident,  he  said,  to  his  mind,  that  the  legislature  did  not  possess  sufficient  in- 
formation to  justify  the  passage  of  a  law  authorising  the  commencement  of  the 
work,  and  apprehending  that  the  measure  might  be  prejudiced  in  the  public 
mind  by  inconsiderate  legislation,  he  believed  this  to  be  the  safer  course.  His 

53 


438 


APPENDIX. 


amendment  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  20  to  9.  The  consideration  of  the 
bill  was  resumed  in  the  senate  on  the  11th,  and  after  an  unsuccessful  motion 
by  Major  Cochran  to  reject  the  whole,  the  commissioners,  on  motion  of  Mr. 
Ross,  were  reduced  to  five  in  number,  and  it  was  thus  adopted.  The  names 
of  the  five  commissioners  retained  were,  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  De  Witt 
Clinton,  Samuel  Young,  Joseph  Ellicott,  and  Myron  Holley. 

By  these  amendments,  the  bill  was  reduced  substantially  to  the  original  pro- 
position of  Mr.  Duer  in  the  other  house  ;  and  in  this  shape  it  went  back  for 
concurrence.  The  assembly  at  first  refused  to  concur,  and  the  bill  was  sent 
back  to  the  senate.  But  the  senate  in  turn  refused  to  recede.  It  was  the 
last  day  of  the  session — time  pressed — and  lest  the  whole  project  should  be 
swept  by  the  board  and  lost,  by  the  talents  and  address  of  Mr.  Lynch  and  Mr. 
Jay  the  house  was  finally  persuaded  to  recede  from  its  vote  of  non-concur- 
rence ;  and  thus  passed  the  act  of  1816. 

The  duties  enjoined  upon  the  commissioners  by  this  act  were, — 

"  1st.  To  examine  and  explore  the  country,  for  the  purpose  of  determining  the  most 
eligible  routes  for  the  contemplated  canals  ;  to  cause  surveys  and  levels  to  be  taken,  and 
maps,  field-books,  and  draughts  to  be  made,  and  to  adopt  and  recommend  proper  plans  for 
the  construction  and  formation  of  the  said  canals,  and  of  the  locks,  dams,  embankments, 
tunnels,  and  aqueducts ;  and  to  cause  all  necessary  plans,  models,  and  draughts  thereof  to  be 
executed. 

"  2d.  To  calculate  and  estimate  the  expense  of  the  above  operations. 

"3d.  To  ascertain  whether  to  any,  and  to  what  amount,  and  upon  what  terms,  loans  of 
money  can  be  procured  on  the  credit  of  the  state  for  the  above  purposes ;  and, 

"  4th.  To  apply  for  donations  of  land  and  money,  in  aid  of  those  undertakings,  to  the 
United  States,  to  states  interested,  to  corporate  bodies,  and  to  individuals." 

The  commissioners  met  in  New-York  in  May,  and  the  board  was  organised 
by  the  appointment  of  De  Witt  Clinton,  president,  Colonel  Young,  secretary, 
and  Myron  Holley,  treasurer  ;  and  the  season  was  occupied  in  a  diligent  and 
laborious  discharge  of  their  preparatory  duties. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  legislature  of  the  following  year,  Governor  Tompkins 
in  his  speech,  directed  their  attention  to  the  subject  only  in  the  following 
negative  paragraph  : — 


APPENDIX. 


439 


"  It  is  respectfully  submitted  to  your  wisdom  to  make  provision  at  the  present  session,  for 
employing  a  part  at  least  of  the  state  prisoners,  either  in  building  the  new  prison  at  Auburn, 
erecting  fortifications,  opening  and  repairing  great  roads,  constructing  canals,  and  in  making 
other  improvements." 

Governor  Tompkins  had  never  been  suspected  of  any  very  strong  friend- 
ship for  the  canal  project ;  and  this  chilling  paragraph,  at  a  time  when  the 
public  attention  was  alive  upon  the  subject,  was  at  once  construed  into  a 
settled  hostility,  which  subsequent  events  proved  too  true.  "  So  much  of  his 
excellency's  speech  as  related  to  canals,"  was  not  referred  to  any  committee. 
This  speech  was  delivered  at  an  extra  session,  held  in  November  1816,  for 
appointing  presidential  electors.  No  communication  was  made  by  the  Go- 
vernor at  the  opening  of  the  adjourned  session,  which  commenced  on  the  14th 
of  January,  1817 ;  and  no  direct  movement  upon  the  subject  of  the  canals 
was  attempted  for  more  than  a  month  afterwards.  Mr.  Clinton,  Colonel 
Young,  and  Mr.  Holley,  however,  were  in  attendance  at  Albany,  and  were  not 
idle  in  regard  to  their  high  trust. 

At  length,  on  the  17th  of  February  the  commissioners  presented  their  re- 
port respecting  the  Erie  Canal,  and  the  report  on  the  Champlain  Canal  pro- 
ject was  presented  on  the  19th  of  March  following.  These  reports  were 
replete  with  valuable  information  connected  with  the  subject.  To  quote  their 
own  language  in  the  first  of  these  reports,  "  their  investigations  had  shown 
the  physical  facility  of  this  great  internal  communication,  and  a  little  atten- 
tion to  the  resources  of  the  state,  would  demonstrate  its  financial  practica- 
bility." The  former  of  these  reports  was  referred  to  a  joint  committee  con- 
sisting of  Messrs.  Livingston,  Tibbitts,  and  Swift,  on  the  part  of  the  senate ; 
and  Messrs.  William  D.  Ford,  Pendleton,  Child,  Eckford,  and  Wilcoxson,  on 
the  part  of  the  assembly.  Mr.  Ford  was  chairman  of  the  committee.  He  was 
a  plain,  sensible  man,  of  solid  understanding,  and  though  little  of  a  rhetori- 
cian, acquired  a  good  share  of  influence  in  the  house  from  the  confidence  re- 
posed in  his  judgment,  and  his  manifest  and  unquestioned  integrity.  He  then 
represented  the  county  of  Herkimer ;  but  has  since  been  in  congress  from  the 
county  of  Jefferson,  where  he  now  resides. 

On  the  19th  of  March,  a  plan  of  finance,  prepared  by  the  commissioners  at 


440 


APPENDIX. 


the  request  of  the  joint  committee,  was  presented  to  the  legislature.  This 
projet  is  understood  to  have  been  chiefly,  if  not  altogether,  the  work  of  Mr. 
Clinton.  But  in  forming  the  plan  subsequently  adopted,  which  was  devised 
with  great  skill  and  ability,  it  is  understood  that  George  Tibbitts,  Esq.  of  Rens- 
selaer, then  in  the  senate,  was  the  master  spirit.  It  was  to  his  talents  and 
exertions,  probably,  more  than  to  those  of  any  other  man,  that  the  state  is  in- 
debted for  the  substitution,  in  lieu  of  sundry  financial  expedients,  of  an  efficient 
and  durable  plan  of  canal  revenue.  Mr.  Tibbitts'  plan,  "  was  to  establish  a 
fund  to  be  managed  by  commissioners,  the  income  of  which  would  raise 
money  sufficient  to  complete  the  canals  in  twelve  or  fourteen  years,  with 
seven  millions  of  dollars,  and  leave  a  sinking  fund  sufficient  to  redeem  the  debt 
to  be  created,  at  a  period  not  far  distant  from  their  completion."  Mr.  Tib- 
bitts is  a  gentleman  of  sound  judgment,  and  of  much  practical  knowledge 
upon  many  subjects.  I  have  known  him  before,  and  since,  in  both  branches 
of  the  legislature,  and  have  seldom  seen  a  more  useful  man  in  either. 

During  the  session  of  congress  corresponding  with  the  period  of  which  I 
am  now  writing,  which  was  the  last  session  of  Mr.  Madison's  administration,  a 
bill  was  introduced  into  that  body,  for  a  just  apportionment  among  the  several 
states,  of  the  dividends  arising  from  the  stock  owned  by  the  United  States  in 
the  National  Bank,  to  be  applied  by  the  states  respectively  to  the  prosecution 
of  works  of  internal  improvement.  The  amount  to  be  derived  by  the  state  of 
New-York  from  this  source,  was  estimated  at  about  90,000  dollars  per  annum, 
— no  mean  item  of  revenue.  And  it  is  probable  that  the  committee  were  in- 
duced to  delay  their  report  until  that  question  should  be  decided.  The  bill 
passed  both  houses  of  congress,  greatly  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  friends  of 
internal  improvement  at  Albany.  But  most  unexpectedly,  as  one  of  the  last 
acts  of  his  public  life,  Mr.  Madison  put  his  veto  upon  it.  The  indignation 
felt  at  Albany  on  the  receipt  of  this  intelligence,  was  equal  to  the  disappoint- 
ment. But  probably  this  act  of  Mr.  Madison's,  was  ultimately  productive  of 
good,  in  respect  to  the  projects  then  in  contemplation.  The  feelings  of  the 
people  and  of  the  legislature  were  aroused,  and  there  was  a  very  general  de- 
termination that  the  state  of  New-York  should  put  forth  her  own  energies,  and 
commence  the  proposed  works,  though  of  national  magnitude,  on  her  own 


APPENDIX. 


441 


account.  Accordingly,  on  the  19th  of  March,  the  joint  committee  presented 
an  able  and  elaborate  report,  recommending  the  immediate  construction  of 
the  Erie  Canal,  from  the  Mohawk  to  the  Seneca  River,  and  the  entire  Cham- 
plain  Canal.  Colonel  Van  Rensselaer  was  not  a  member  of  this  legislature, 
but  the  object  lay  so  near  his  heart,  that  he  was  much  of  the  time  at  Albany  ; 
and  so  certain  was  he  of  the  practicability  of  the  work,  and  of  the  vast  profits 
and  advantages  to  result  from  it,  that  he  sent  in  a  proposition  which  accom- 
panied the  report  of  the  committee,  for  undertaking  the  whole  Erie  Canal 
himself. 

The  subject  was  this  year  first  taken  up  in  committee  of  the  whole  of  the 
House  of  Assembly,  on  Tuesday  the  1st  of  April,  Mr.  Ducr  in  the  chair.  In 
opening  the  debate,  Mr.  Ford,  as  chairman  of  the  committee,  avowed  him- 
self in  favour  of  the  first  bill  which  the  committee  had  reported  ;  but  some  of 
his  associates  preferred  a  different  mode  of  raising  the  revenue,  or  at  least  a 
portion  of  it,  by  imposing  an  annual  tax  upon  the  real  and  personal  estates,  in 
the  several  cities,  villages,  towns,  and  counties  immediately  to  be  benefitted  by 
the  canals.  Under  the  direction  of  the  committee,  therefore,  he  now  proposed 
a  new  bill,  embracing  such  a  provision. 

The  late  Judge  Pendleton,  of  Dutchess  county,  spoke  in  favour  of  the  sub- 
stitute, which  was  received  in  committee  of  the  whole  by  a  large  majority. — 
From  the  general  scope  and  tenor  of  the  judge's  remarks,  I  drew  the  infer- 
ence that  he  was  in  fact  hostile  to  the  entire  project,  and  would  oppose  the  bill 
throughout.  My  acquaintance  with  this  gentleman  was  limited,  having  been 
altogether  confined  to  the  last  half  of  the  session  of  which  I  am  speaking. 
I  saw  enough  of  him,  however,  to  admire  his  sterling  character,  and  high  and 
honourable  principles.  He  was  a  perfect  gentleman  of  the  old  school,  and  in 
the  days  of  chivalry  would  have  been  a  cavalier  of  lofty  and  noble  mien.  An 
officer  in  the  war  of  the  revolution,  he  was  attached  to  the  military  family  of 
General  Greene,  in  his  southern  campaigns.  In  debate  he  was  not  eloquent, 
but  he  never  spoke  unless  he  thought  it  necessary,  and  from  a  sense  of  duty  ; 
and  what  he  communicated  was  to  the  purpose;  being  ever  the  result  of  a 
sound  and  discriminating  judgment.  I  shall  presently  have  occasion  to  speak 
of  this  gentleman  again. 


442 


APPENDIX. 


The  debate  next  turned  upon  a  proposition  for  purchasing  the  rights  secured 
by  their  act  of  incorporation,  to  the  old  Western  Inland  Lock  Navigation 
Company,  in  which  several  members  were  engaged  ;  but  before  the  question 
was  taken,  the  committee  rose  and  reported  progress. 

The  consideration  of  the  bill  was  renewed  in  committee  of  the  whole,  on 
the  following  day.  Mr.  Duer  opened  the  debate  this  morning  ;  and  as  his  re- 
marks not  only  indicated  his  present  views,  but  explained  very  lucidly  the 
course  he  took,  and  the  motives  by  which  he  had  been  actuated,  during  the 
former  session,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  preserve  in  this  place  a  sketch  of  those 
remarks  made  by  me  at  the  time. 

Mr.  Duer  said — "  That  when  the  important  subject  now  presented  for  the  consideration  of 
the  committee  was  agitated  in  the  house  at  the  last  session,  he  had  been  decidedly  opposed 
to  the  bill  then  reported  by  a  select  committee,  for  engaging  the  state  at  once  in  the  execu- 
tion of  the  whole  work,  before  wp  were  in  possession  of  a  complete  survey  of  the  route, 
or  of  any  previous  estimate  of  the  expense ;  and  without  providing  the  means,  and  creating 
the  funds  by  which  it  should  eventually  be  defrayed.  Although  he  had  been  opposed  to  that 
bill,  he  was  by  no  means  unfriendly  to  the  project  of  the  canal ;  and  he  had  therefore  felt  it 
his  duty  to  propose  a  substitute,  which  was  ultimately  adopted  by  both  branches  of  the 
legislature,  and  is  the  law  under  which  the  commissioners  are  acting.  He  was  against  all 
precipitate  and  inconsiderate  measures,  lest  they  should  defeat  the  final  accomplishment  of 
the  great  object  which  we  had  in  view.  But  even  at  that  period,  he  had  been  willing  to 
authorise  the  commissioners,  from  information  then  before  the  house,  and  from  the  funds 
then  proposed  to  be  provided,  to  commence  the  construction  of  the  northern  canal,  and  of 
the  western  canal,  between  Rome  and  Seneca  River ;  confining  their  operations  to  those 
sections  in  the  first  instance ;  and  he  had  accordingly  voted  for  the  amendments  to  that 
effect,  which  passed  the  house,  but  which  were  afterwards  rejected  by  the  senate.  From 
the  information  since  collected  by  the  commissioners,  he  thought  we  were  fully  warranted 
in  proceeding ;  his  impression  was,  that  the  section  between  the  Mohawk  and  the  Hudson 
ought  first  to  be  completed ;  but  upon  this  section  the  report  of  the  commissioners  is  defec- 
tive— their  opinion  is  against  it.  If  this  committee,  therefore,  should  agree  in  that  opinion, 
he  should  now,  as  on  the  former  occasion,  be  willing  to  submit  his  wishes  to  the  judgment  of 
the  majority,  and  vote  for  the  commencement  of  the  Lake  Champlain  Canal,  and  for  the 
commencement  of  a  canal  from  Rome  westward ;  provided  adequate  funds  could  be  devoted 
and  pledged  for  that  purpose,  upon  fair  and  equitable  principles. 

"  The  bill  under  consideration  was  materially  defective.    It  did  not  contain  the  necessary 


APPENDIX. 


443 


provisions  to  enable  the  commissioners  to  take  possession  of  the  lands  through  which  the 
canals  must  pass,  nor  does  the  bill  upon  tho  table  empower  the  commissioners  to  enter  upon 
other  lands  adjacent,  to  procure  timber  and  other  materials  necessary  for  constructing  the 
canals.  Sir,  (said  Mr.  D.)  in  order  to  prosecute  the  undertaking,  it  is  necessary  that  the 
commissioners  should  have  extensive  powers.  They  must  have  ample  power  to  take  pos- 
session of  any  and  every  description  of  property  necessary  for  the  construction  of  the  con- 
templated canals.  It  is  nugatory  to  invest  the  commissioners  with  power  to  contract  either 
with  the  Western  Inland  Lock  Navigation  Company,  or  with  individuals;  for  you  cannot 
compel  them  to  consent  to  an  agreement,  nor  even  to  listen  to  proposals.  The  interests  of 
the  incorporation,  as  well  as  those  of  other  persons,  should  be  subservient  to  the  paramount 
interests  of  the  state;  and  a  fair  compensation,  to  be  ascertained  by  a  person  appointed, 
should  be  allowed  to  them  for  any  damages  or  sacrifices  which  the  public  good  requires  of 
them.  He  therefore  suggested  the  propriety  of  recommitting  the  bill  to  a  select  committee, 
to  be  amended  upon  these  principles." 

Mr.  Barnes,  of  Oneida,  informed  his  friend  from  Dutchess,  that  he  was  pre- 
pared to  offer  amendments  in  conformity  with  the  views  of  that  gentleman, 
when  they  arrived  at  the  proper  stage  of  the  bill. 

Wheeler  Barnes,  Esq.  the  gentleman  whose  name  is  now  introduced,  had 
succeeded  Mr.  Lynch  in  the  legislature,  from  Oneida.  I  am  thus  particular, 
because  the  services  of  Mr.  B.  were  of  great  importance  during  the  discussions 
upon  this  subject.  His  talents  were  highly  respectable,  his  industry  great,  his 
knowledge  of  the  subject  precise,  and  his  personal  character  in  every  way  es- 
timable. In  discussing  the  details  of  the  bill,  he  was  frequently  called  to 
the  floor,  and  on  all  occasions  acquitted  himself  in  a  manner  that  entitled 
him  to  the  gratitude  of  his  constituents  and  the  friends  of  the  great  cause. 
His  exertions  in  the  house,  in  the  committees,  and  out  of  the  house, 
were  indefatigable  ;  and  1  have  yet  in  my  possession  the  notes  of  a  very 
excellent  speech — clear,  forcible,  and  argumentative — which  he  delivered 
during  the  day  of  which  I  am  now  speaking,  in  reply  to  Mr.  Sharpe  of  New- 
York — for  since  the  session  of  the  preceding  year,  one  of  those  political  revo- 
lutions which  sometimes  sweep  suddenly  over  our  city,  had  again  occurred, 
and  the  new  delegation  was  as  strongly  opposed  to  the  canal  project,  as  their 
predecessors  had  been  in  its  favour. 


444 


APPENDIX. 


On  this  day  also,  Mr.  Emott,  (now  Judge  Emott,)  who  had  succeeded  Mr. 
Oakley,  from  Dutchess,  came  out  very  decidedly,  not  only  against  the  present 
bill,  but  in  hostility  to  any  project  for  embarking  in  the  enterprise  at  that  pe- 
riod, or  for  a  long  time  to  come.  The  high  character  and  attainments  of  Mr. 
Emott,  united  with  talents  of  the  first  order,  and  industry  the  most  untiring, 
rendered  him  a  formidable  antagonist.  But  the  chairman  of  the  committee 
bore  himself  manfully,  and  was  ably  sustained,  as  I  have  already  said,  by  Mr. 
Barnes,  and  also  by  a  very  eloquent  and  beautiful  speech  from  John  I.  Ostran- 
der,  Esq. — then  a  representative  of  the  city  of  Albany. 

The  debate  was  resumed  on  the  7th  ; — the  question  on  which  the  discus- 
sion turned,  being  a  motion  to  strike  out  the  section  imposing  the  local 
tax  upon  real  and  personal  estates  in  the  chief  towns,  villages,  cities,  coun- 
ties, &c.  as  before  mentioned.  William  B.  Rochester,  Esq.,  then  a  young  mem- 
ber from  the  west,  first  took  the  floor  in  opposition  to  the  motion,  but  in  favour 
of  the  bill  upon  its  merits  in  the  broad  sense  of  the  term.  The  late  Dr.  Sar- 
geant,  of  Washington  county,  who  had  long  been  an  influential  member  of 
the  house  with  a  certain  class  of  politicians,  replied  to  Mr.  Rochester,  to  whom 
the  latter  rejoined.  These  were  the  virgin  parliamentary  efforts  of  Mr.  R. ;  they 
were  able  and  eloquent,  and  afforded  promise  of  talents,  which,  as  they  ripened 
into  greater  maturity,  have  successively  pointed  him  out  for  a  seat  in  con- 
gress ;  for  the  bench  of  the  circuit  court ;  and  subsequently  to  fill  two  diplo- 
matic situations. 

After  Mr.  Rochester  had  concluded,  Mr.  Emott  again  took  the  floor  in  a 
more  formidable  and  determined  manner  than  during  the  former  debate.  He 
came  armed  with  appalling  tables  of  figures  and  estimates,  and  all  perceived 
that  before  he  had  concluded  he  had  made  an  impression  unfavourable  to 
the  project.  Not  that  he  avowed  himself  decidedly  the  enemy  of  the  mea- 
sure ;  on  the  contrary,  he  now  declared  that  he  was  in  favour  of  the  canal, 
but  utterly  opposed  to  all  visionary  projects,  and  most  especially  to  the  bill  un- 
der discussion. 

The  prospect  began  now  for  a  moment  to  darken  ;  and  serious  doubts  were 
again  entertained  as  to  the  fate  of  this  bill,  or  any  other  upon  the  subject,  dur- 
ing that  session.    On  the  following  day,  however,  which  was  the  8th,  after 


APPENDIX. 


I  If) 


having  examined  the  surveys  and  calculations  of  Benjamin  Wright,  Esq.  the 
principal  engineer,  Judge  Pendleton  came  out  decidedly  in  favour  of  the 
canal  system,  and  delivered  a  speech  of  which  I  reported  the  following  sketch 
at  the  time  : 

"  Mr.  Pendleton  said — The  gentleman  from  Albany,  (Mr.  Ostrander)  had  done  injustice 
to  his  honourable  colleague  from  Dutchess  (Mr.  Emott)  on  a  former  day,  in  supposing  that 
gentleman  had  introduced  the  clause  now  proposed  to  be  stricken  out,  and  who,  lie  said,  had 
thrown  it  as  an  apple  of  discord  among  the  friends  of  the  Great  Canal.  Whatever  there  was 
of  merit  or  demerit  in  the  measure,  Mr.  E.  had  nothing  to  do  with  its  introduction.  Mr. 
P.  said,  he  had  himself  proposed  in  the  committee  which  reported  the  bill,  the  propriety  of 
raising  a  part  of  the  funds  necessary  for  that  work,  by  a  tax  on  the  lands  and  property  of 
the  cities,  towns,  and  counties  which  would  derive  by  the  canals,  if  they  could  be  accomplish- 
ed, great,  and  almost  incalculable  advantages.  He  then  stated,  and  insisted  it  was  fair  in  its 
principle,  and  perfectly  just.  With  such  a  tax  he  was  willing  to  begin  the  work,  but  if  the 
whole  funds  were  to  be  raised  by  the  state,  he  should  feel  it  to  be  his  duty  to  vote  against 
the  whole  bill.  Gentlemen,  he  said,  had  treated  this  measure  of  a  local  tax  as  one  intended, 
by  those  who  maintained  it,  to  defeat  all  the  plans  that  might  be  proposed  for  making  the 
canals ;  yet  it  was  a  little  extraordinary  that  a  gentleman  who  is  warmly  in  favour  of 
the  bill,  and  who  made  the  motion  to  reject  this  clause,  (Mr.  Sargeant,)  coincided  with 
those  who  were  understood  to  be  avowedly  hostile  to  it,  under  any  modification,  and 
who  had  seconded  that  gentleman's  motion.  Mr.  P.  said,  it  was  a  principle  of  equity, 
that  those  who  were  to  receive  the  benefits  of  the  measure,  should  bear  some  addi- 
tional part  of  the  expenses.  The  committee  reported  that  the  counties  west  of  the  Oneida, 
inclusive,  had  paid  annually  one  million  of  dollars  for  the  transportation  of  merchandise  and 
supplies  of  all  kinds  from  Albany  for  their  clothes,  farms,  manufactures,  &c.  and  that  the 
average  freight  to  Buffalo,  the  most  distant  point,  was  one  hundred  dollars  per  ton — that 
the  price  of  freight  from  Montreal  to  the  same  point,  was  about  sixty  dollars.  Suppose 
sixty  dollars  to  be  the  average  price,  it  followed  that  they  required  upwards  of  66,000  tons 
to  supply  their  wants.  If  a  safe  and  easy  navigation  can  be  effected  by  means  of  canals 
and  locks,  which  he  believed  to  be  practicable,  at  a  comparatively  small  expense,  the  price 
of  freights  at  three  cents  per  ton  per  mile,  which  was  the  lowest  sum  spoken  of,  would, 
on  an  average,  enable  them  to  obtain  those  supplies  at  ten  dollars  and  a  half  per  ton  on  the 
whole  route,  making  a  gain  of  forty-nine  dollars  and  a  half,  a  saving  of  more  than  700,000 
dollars  per  annum  on  this  single  charge  upon  their  industry.  In  relation  to  the  transporta- 
tion of  their  produce  to  market,  it  was  stated  that  it  might  be  carried  to  Montreal  at  thirty 
dollars.  The  quantity  of  tonnage,  however,  was  much  greater,  as  the  articles  were  more 
bulky,  and  this  item  would  make  the  saving  in  transportation  alone  one  million  of 

54 


446 


APPENDIX. 


dollars  per  annum  in  those  countries.    It  would  also  open  a  market  for  their  extensive  beds 
of  plaster  of  Paris,  as  a  manure,  which  would  be  turning  their  very  stones  into  gold. 

"  Villages  and  towns  would  spring  up  along  the  canal  in  an  almost  continued  succession, 
and  it  was  universally  admitted  that  for  a  considerable  distance  on  each  side  of  the  canal, 
the  value  of  lands  would  be  increased  at  least  two  hundred  per  cent,  and  that  it  would  pro- 
duce a  great  and  general  rise  in  the  value  of  lands  through  that  whole  country.  Another 
advantage,  by  no  means  inconsiderable,  was,  that  the  500,000  dollars  per  annum,  which  it 
was  contemplated  to  expend  in  the  work,  would  be  expended  among  those  who  were  to  pay 
this  tax — it  would  increase  the  value  of  their  flour,  pork,  vegetables,  &c.  It  would  afford 
them  also  employment.  It  was  fair  to  say,  the  increased  price  of  their  market  for  these 
articles,  which  would  be  paid  for  in  cash,  would  be  sufficient  to  pay  the  whole  tax.  Would 
it  be  fair  and  just  to  tax  the  other  parts  of  the  state  to  make  these  canals,  which  were  no 
otherwise  benefitted  by  them,  if  they  should  ever  be  made,  than  by  the  effect  they  might 
have  on  the  general  wealth  and  prosperity  of  the  country  ?  He  contended  it  would  be  the 
height  of  injustice  ;  and  he  was  surprised  gentlemen  showed  so  little  magnanimity  as  to  be 
urgent  for  this  great  work,  and  at  the  same  time  insist  on  being  exempted  from  the  expense. 
The  midland  counties  on  the  North  River  had  a  convenient  navigation,  but  they  had  paid 
for  it.  Our  farms  cost  us  sixty  dollars  an  acre,  because  they  lie  near  that  great  natural 
canal.  Am  I  to  be  taxed,  and  my  money  expended  in  an  enterprise,  which  will  be  of  no 
value  to  me,  to  raise  the  value  of  your  lands,  that  cost  you  perhaps  five  or  ten  dollars  an 
acre,  to  fifty  or  sixty  ?    Can  this  be  just  ?    Will  any  just  man  desire  it  ? 

"  Mr.  Pendleton  proceeded.  He  said  the  contemplated  canals,  if  they  succeeded  to  the 
utmost  that  their  friends  expected,  would  be  of  no  direct  benefit  to  a  great  part  of  the 
state.  And  the  taxes  for  them  would  fall  principally  on  those  who  were  in  that  situ- 
ation. We,  said  he,  in  Dutchess  county,  pay  sixty  dollars  per  acre  for  our  lands,  so  that 
two  hundred  acres  would  be  estimated  at  12,000  dollars.  Whereas  the  inhabitants 
on  those  canals  would  pay  for  two  hundred  acres  not  more  than  3,000  dollars,  so  that  we 
should  pay  four  times  as  much  as  they.  The  result  would  raise  the  value  of  their  farms  up  • 
perhaps  to  9,000  dollars,  giving  a  clear  profit  to  them  on  the  expenditure  of  our  money  of 
three  hundred  per  cent.  It  had  been  said  that  we  should  be  supplied  with  plaster  of  Paris, 
a  valuable  manure  much  used  by  us.  Mr.  P.  doubted  whether  it  could  be  delivered  at  Al- 
bany on  the  canals,  if  completed,  cheaper  than  at  New- York  from  Nova  Scotia.  He  said 
he  understood  that  the  quantity  of  plaster  imported  into  New-York,  was  perhaps  75,000 
tons  per  annum,  for  which  was  paid  about  350,000  dollars;  this  would  be  a  saving  of  so 
much  to  the  country,  if  it  could  be  supplied  from  the  west ;  but  the  midland  and  southern 
counties  would  derive  no  benefit  from  it  locally.  They  would  have  to  pay  probably  the  same 
price  for  it  on  their  farms  in  both  instances.  He  had  stated  the  immense  local  advantages 
to  be  derived  from  these  canals  if  completed.    He  reminded  the  gentlemen  that  he  had  as- 


APPENDIX. 


447 


sumcd  that  they  could  be  made  and  completed,  as  they  themselves  insisted,  and  if  so,  the 
result  was  inevitable.  They  could  not  oppose  this  without  at  the  same  time  opposing  the 
whole  scheme  as  an  impracticable,  visionary  project.  Then  what  was  the  tax  ?  Seventy-five 
cents  on  one  thousand  dollars  value.  It  would  probably  be  on  2,000,000  acres,  and  would 
not  be  more  than  two  and  a  half  cents  per  acre  per  annum.  The  amount  for  New-York 
would  be  41,000  dollars.  This  was  not  a  large  sum;  and  from  what  we  have  heard  from 
well  informed  men  of  that  city,  a  large  portion  of  the  people  of  property  were  in  favour  of 
it,  aud  thought  that  contribution  a  moderate  one.  If  those  canals  were  made,  it  would  have 
an  almost  incalculable  effect  on  the  commerce  of  that  city.  What,  he  asked,  had  caused  its 
unexampled  increase  of  wealth  and  population?  It  was  owing  to  its  central  position — its 
great  rivers — its  open  port.  This  made  it  the  depot  of  supplies,  and  for  the  shipment  of 
the  produce  of  three  or  four  states.  Suppose  these  canals  completed,  and  it  would  be  the 
emporium  not  only  of  our  own  products,  but  for  the  northern  part  of  the  western  states  and 
territories,  and  this  would  increase  with  the  increase  of  their  population,  which  had  been 
rapid  beyond  conception.  It  appeared  by  documents  on  the  table,  that  the  money  paid  at 
Fort  Pitt  for  transportation  for  goods  delivered  there  from  Philadelphia,  and  carried  by 
wagons,  was  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  per  month,  perhaps  eight  months  in 
the  year.  It  was  ascertained  that  goods  could  be  delivered  there,  if  the  western  canal  was 
complete,  for  one-third  the  cost  of  that  land  carriage.  Gentlemen  had  strongly  urged  that 
the  enterprise  was  a  national  one,  and  ought  to  be  made  solely  at  the  expense  of  the  state. 
He  had  already  shown  the  injustice  of  that  principle  in  its  operation  on  those  parts  of  the 
state  by  which  no  benefit  could  be  derived;  but  gentlemen  had  exclaimed  against  a  local 
tax,  as  though  the  whole  funds  were  raised  in  that  mode.  The  whole  amount  proposed  to 
be  expended  annually  was  584,000  dollars.  The  whole  amount  of  the  local  taxes  was  pro- 
posed to  be  96,000  dollars  per  annum  only.  If  the  gentlemen  were  so  desirous  of  havino- 
the  canal  for  their  benefit,  either  they  doubted  the  practicability,  and  wished  the  experiment 
to  be  made  at  the  expense  of  the  state,  or  they  were  so  palpably  unjust  as  to  wish  to  im- 
prove their  estates  at  the  people's  expense.  Mr.  P.  said  the  proposition  was  so  partial,  so 
selfish,  so  grossly  inequitable,  that  he  was  surprised  any  honourable  man  would  support  it. 
He  was  glad  to  see  many  gentlemen  from  the  western  country  had  acted  otherwise,  thinking 
it  just  that  they  should  bear  some  part  of  the  expense.  Another  national  advantage  had  been 
alluded  to,  arising  from  the  commercial  competition  between  Montreal  and  Albany,  for  the 
trade  of  the  western  country.  At  present,  Montreal  must  be  the  depot,  and  the  St.  Law- 
rence the  channel  through  which  the  exports  of  their  and  our  territories  near  the  lakes  must 
find  a  foreign  market ;  but  it  was  clear  if  the  canal  could  be  made  complete,  so  as  to  afford  an 
easy  and  certain  passage  for  boats  of  from  thirty  to  fifty  tons,  eight  months  in  the  year,  pay- 
ing three  cents  per  ton  per  mile,  the  consequences  would  be  directly  the  reverse.  We 
should  get  not  only  all  our  own  productions  from  the  great  lakes  and  their  streams  to  a 


448 


APPENDIX. 


foreign  market,  through  Albany  and  New- York,  but  theirs  also.  As  it  now  is,  our  mer- 
chants go  to  Montreal  and  form  their  connexions  in  trade.  This  creates  a  kind  of  depen- 
dence on  that  country,  which  might  be  very  injurious  in  the  event  of  war.  Mr.  P.  concluded 
by  saying  he  would  have  no  objection  to  devote  some  part  of  the  funds  of  the  state  to  this 
enterprise,  which  he  believed  might  be  acccomplished  for  seven  or  eight  millions  of  dollars 
at  most,  but  he  would  not  think  it  just  or  proper  to  do  so  wholly  at  the  expense  of  the  state. 
To  obviate,  however,  some  of  the  objections,  he  would  propose  that  all  moneys  advanced  for 
this  enterprise  by  the  state,  and  by  individuals,  should  be  repaid  out  of  the  profits  of  the 
canals  after  they  were  completed ;  and  he  read  two  clauses  as  part  of  his  speech,  which  he 
said  he  should  propose,  if  the  principle  of  local  taxation  prevailed.  If  it  did  not,  he  should 
vote  against  the  bill. 

Mr.  Sargeant  replied  to  Judge  Pendleton,  as  also  did  Mr.  Romaine,  of 
New-York,  in  a  forcible  and  impressive  speech.  After  which,  and  a  brief  re- 
joinder from  Judge  Pendleton,  the  question  was  taken  on  the  motion  to  strike 
out  the  clause  for  local  assessments,  and  the  same  was  carried  in  the  affirma- 
tive by  the  close  vote  of  52  to  51. 

In  discussing  and  adjusting  various  details  of  the  bill  during  the  remainder 
of  the  day,  Mr.  Duer  was  often  upon  the  floor  ;  and  his  opinions  tended 
greatly  to  produce  an  unobjectionable  arrangement  of  its  provisions,  and  a 
favourable  vote  subsequently  on  the  final  question.  Before  the  rising  of  the 
committee,  however,  Mr.  Duer  moved  to  add,  in  lieu  of  the  objectionable 
scheme  for  local  and  partial  taxation,  which  had  been  stricken  out,  a  section 
equivalent  to  that  of  the  former  session  proposed  by  Mr.  Oakley,  imposing  a 
tax  on  lands  within  twenty-five  miles  on  each  side  of  the  canals. 

This  was  the  important  question  to  be  met  at  the  threshold,  on  the 
opening  of  the  debate  the  following  day,  (the  9th).  It  was  very  evident  from 
the  late  vote  upon  the  question,  involving  essentially  the  same  principle,  but 
in  a  somewhat  different  shape,  that  there  would  be  a  very  strong  opposition 
to  any  system  of  local  taxation  whatever.  And  it  was  equally  evident,  that 
without  some  such  provision,  the  bill  must  fail.  The  debate  was  recommenced 
by  Mr.  Duer  on  the  morning  of  the  9th  in  his  ablest  manner.  His  language 
was  at  once  persuasive  and  powerful.  His  close  observation,  and  his  deep 
thought  upon  the  proud  results  evidently  to  grow  out  of  this  momentous  ques- 


APPENDIX. 


449 


tion,  revealed  to  his  enlightened  understanding  the  immense  utility  of  the 
work  in  contemplation,  and  the  honourable  fame  to  be  awarded,  by  unborn 
ages,  to  those  who  might  now  or  hereafter  step  forth  as  its  honest,  fearless, 
and  successful  advocates.  He  did  not  hesitate.  He  avowed  his  determined 
purpose  in  the  course  of  the  debates,  to  sustain  the  cause  and  persevere  to 
the  end.  His  reasons  for  the  proposed  amendment  were  plainly  and  perspicu- 
ously assigned,  and  they  were  not  without  their  effect  upon  his  hearers. 

At  this  critical  point  of  the  struggle,  Elisha  Williams,  of  Columbia,  who  had 
not  hitherto  manifested  any  particular  friendship  for  the  project,  having  been 
rather  reserved,  stepped  forward  in  its  favour;  and  events  soon  proved  "the 
might  that  slumbered  in  his  arm."  The  extraordinary  powers  of  this  gentle- 
man, as  well  before  a  court  and  jury,  as  in  our  legislative  halls,  is  proverbial. 
No  matter  what  subject  comes  up,  he  is  always  ready  to  grapple  with  and 
master  it.  Nor  is  he  more  remarkable  for  the  readiness  and  strength  of  his 
powers,  than  for  their  versatility.  For  deep  and  thrilling  pathos  when  requir- 
ed;  for  sublimity  of  thought  and  richness  of  language,  when  demanded  by  his 
theme  ;  and  for  logical  and  grave  debate,  he  is  equally  as  distinguished  as  for 
the  lighter  sallies  of  his  playful  and  sparkling  fancy,  the  quickness  of  his  wit, 
and  the  pungency  and  severity  of  his  satire.  And  woe  to  the  hapless  wight 
who,  incurring  his  displeasure  by  unprovoked  attack,  subjects  himself  to  the 
arrows  which  fly  from  his  ample  quiver,  or  draws  forth  that  scorching  torrent 
of  invective,  which  sometimes  flows  like  a  stream  of  burning  lava  from  his  lips  ! 
His  appearance  in  debate  is  commanding ;  his  presence  at  all  times  easy  and 
dignified  ;  his  countenance  almost  invariably  cheerful,  and  beaming  with  good 
nature ;  and  his  mild  blue  eye,  when  lighted  up  with  unwonted  lustre  in  plead- 
ing a  momentous  cause,  or  debating  an  important  question,  beams  and 
sparkles  with  intellectual  fire.  Altogether  he  is  one  of  the  most  eloquent, 
popular,  and  commanding  public  speakers  in  our  country  ;  and  although  his 
language  has  not  always  the  classical  polish  of  Canning,  yet  those  who  have  had 
the  opportunity  of  comparing  the  manner  of  both,  decidedly  award  the  palm 
to  Williams.  He  would  at  any  time  have  shone  pre-eminently  in  the  federal 
legislative  halls,  had  he  complied  with  the  wishes  of  those  who  were  anxious 
to  be  represented  by  him  in  the  national  councils.    His  fame,  if  more  limited 


450 


APPENDIX. 


on  account  of  being  confined  to  a  narrower  sphere  of  action,  is,  however, 
within  that  sphere  more  enviable  and  exalted. 

In  the  course  of  the  debate  in  which  he  now  engaged,  Mr.  W.  had  occasion 
for  all  his  powers,  and  he  wielded  them  with  a  giant's  might ;  contesting  the 
ground  inch  by  inch,  and  defending  the  bill  section  by  section.  But  it  was  in 
one  grand  speech,  that  in  the  most  masterly  manner  he  sustained  the  motion 
of  Mr.  Duer,  and  argued  the  question  of  the  canal  policy,  upon  the  broad 
ground  of  its  merits.  From  this  time  until  the  battle  was  fought,  and  the 
victory  won,  he  was  at  his  post,  and  often  upon  the  floor ;  now  gravely  an- 
swering the  objections  of  the  leading  opponents  of  the  measure;  now  nerving 
the  arms,  even  of  the  strong,,  and  now  dispelling  the  apprehensions  of  the 
timid,  and  confirming  the  vacillating  and  doubtful ;  now  tearing  the  mask 
from  those  pretended  friends  of  the  project,  who  were  secretly  aiming  at  the 
destruction  of  the  bill,  and  now  extinguishing  in  a  breath,  by  some  happy 
stroke  of  raillery,  the  petty  objections  thickly  interspersed  by  those  legislators, 
who  have  neither  the  mind  to  conceive,  nor  the  judgment  to  appreciate,  any 
extensive  projects  of  public  improvement.  He  laboured  hard  to  harmonise 
and  soften  jealousies  and  conflicting  interests.  He,  as  well  as  several  gentle- 
men who  opposed  the  bill,  represented  a  county  bordering  on  the  Hudson 
River — a  county  that  might  possibly  be  opposed  for  the  present  to  so  great 
an  undertaking.  But  he  relied  on  the  patriotism  and  the  magnanimity  of  his 
constituents ;  and  he  was  not  mistaken.  He  appealed  to  the  members  from 
New- York,  who  were  almost  to  a  man  hostile  to  the  project.  He  conjured 
them  in  the  most  animated  and  persuasive  manner,  not  to  forget  that  this  was 
in  fact  an  attempt  of  the  people  of  the  state  to  supply  their  favourite  city,  at 
the  cheapest  rate,  with  every  production  of  the  soil  in  abundance.  The  glow- 
ing picture  which  he  drew  of  the  future  greatness  and  splendour  of  New- York, 
when  the  great  channels  of  inland  navigation  then  under  consideration  should 
be  completed,  is  yet  floating  in  my  mind,  like  the  fragments  of  a  bright  and 
glorious  vision.  "  If,"  said  he,  turning  to  a  leading  member  of  the  New-York 
delegation, "  if  the  canal  is  to  be  a  shower  of  gold,  it  will  fall  upon  New- York  ; 
if  a  river  of  gold,  it  will  flow  into  her  lap."  How  true  have  we  already  found 
this  prediction  !  But,  strong  as  was  his  belief,  and  sanguine  as  was  his  tern- 


APPENDIX.  451 

perament,  his  anticipations,  though  then  considered  extravagant,  have  fallen 
far  short  of  the  reality,  both  on  the  score  of  revenue  derived  from  these 
canals,  and  as  regards  the  incalculable  benefits  they  have  conferred  upon  the 
state  and  country  at  large. 

Mr.  Duer's  motion  to  amend  was  adopted  soon  after  Mr.  Williams  sat 
down,  by  a  vote  61  to  45.  Mr.  Sergeant  then  moved  to  reject  the  whole  bill, 
which  motion,  after  a  brief  discussion,  was  lost,  70  to  30.  The  battle  was 
now  won ;  and  the  residue  of  the  time  occupied  upon  the  bill  in  the  house  of 
assembly,  was  in  a  running  debate  upon  its  minor  details.  The  question  on 
its  final  passage,  in  committee  of  the  whole,  was  taken  on  the  10th  of  April. 
The  votes  stood,  ayes  G4,  noes  36.  On  the  next  day  it  was  read  the  third 
time,  passed,  and  sent  to  the  senate  for  concurrence,  where,  on  motion  of  Mr. 
Tibbitts,  it  was  made  the  special  order  for  the  following  day. 

Accordingly,  on  the  12th  of  April,  the  subject  was  taken  up  in  the  senate  ; 
but  after  a  long  debate,  the  committee  rose  and  reported  progress  before  any 
question  was  taken.  On' Monday  the  14th,  the  discussion  was  resumed,  when 
Mr.  Elmendorf,  of  Ulster,  and  Mr.  Peter  R.  Livingston,  of  Dutchess,  succes- 
sively spoke  at  length  in  opposition.  Mr.  Tibbitts  made  a  very  sound  and 
judicious  speech  in  reply,  and  was  followed  by  Mr.  Van  Buren,  late  Governor 
of  New- York,  and  now  Secretary  of  State,  also  in  favour  of  the  bill.  This  was 
Mr.  Van  Buren's  great  speech  of  the  session,  and  it  was  indeed  a  masterly 
effort.  I  took  notes  of  the  whole  debate  at  the  time,  but  being  then  young  in 
the  business  of  reporting,  and  this  being  the  first  time  I  had  ever  attempted 
to  follow  Mr.  Van  Buren,  whose  utterance  is  too  rapid  for  an  unpractised 
pen,  and  whose  manner  was  on  that  occasion  too  interesting  to  allow  a  re- 
porter to  keep  his  eyes  upon  his  paper,  my  effort  was  little  more  than  a  failure. 
At  your  request,  however,  a  transcript  of  the  loose  notes  which  were  preserved, 
is  here  inserted. 

"  Mr.  Van  Buren  said  he  must  trespass  upon  the  committee,  while  he  stated  the  general 
considerations  which  induced  him  to  give  his  vote  for  the  bill.  It  was  a  subject  which  had 
been  so  fully  discussed,  and  upon  which  so  much  had  been  said,  that  he  should  deem  it  arro- 
gance to  enlarge.  The  calculations  which  had  been  made  with  respect  to  the  probable 
expense  of  the  canal,  and  the  ways  and  means  for  raising  funds,  were  fit  subjects  for  consi- 


452 


APPENDIX. 


deration.  But  to  do  this  he  deemed  himself  incompetent.  He  must  place  great  confidence 
upon  the  reports  of  the  commissioners  upon  these  points.  Mr.  V.  B.  here  took  a  brief  re- 
view of  the  measures  adopted  at  the  last  session  of  the  legislature,  in  relation  to  the  canal, 
when  a  bill  similar  to  the  one  now  before  the  senate,  was  under  consideration,  and  stated  the 
reasons  why  he  voted  against  the  bill  at  that  time.  We  then  had  no  calculations  made  by 
the  commissioners  so  minute  as  at  present.  Under  these  considerations,  he  conceived  it  his 
duty  at  the  last  session,  to  move  the  rejection  of  the  whole  bill  relating  to  the  commence- 
ment of  the  canal.  It  was  done,  and  he  had  the  satisfaction  to  find  that  most  gentlemen 
have  since  united  with  him  in  his  opinion.  Now  the  scene  is  entirely  changed.  We  at  that 
time  passed  a  law  appointing  new  commissioners,  and  applying  20,000  dollars  to  enable  them 
to  obtain  all  the  information  possible.  We  now  have  the  information,  and  we  have  arrived 
at  the  point,  when,  if  this  bill  do  not  pass,  the  project  must  for  many  years  be  abandoned. 
His  convictions  were,  that  it  is  for  the  honour  and  interest  of  the  state  to  commence  the 
work  at  once  ;  we  are  pledged  by  former  measures  to  do  it.  Mr.  Van  Buren  here  viewed 
the  proceedings  of  former  legislatures  upon  the  subject,  during  the  years  1810,11,  12,  and  14, 
when,  in  consequence  of  the  war,  the  law  appropriating  five  millions  for  the  canal,  was  re- 
pealed. He  proceeded  : — Since  that  period,  new  commissioners  have  been  appointed,  and 
new  authority  given,  to  examine  the  route  for  the  canal,  and  report  at  the  present  session 
of  the  legislature.  A  law  authorising  the  commencement  of  the  work  has  passed  the  popu- 
lar branch  of  the  legislature,  nnd  unless  we  have  the  clearest  convictions  that  the  project  is 
impracticable,  or  the  resources  of  our  state  insufficient,  you  must  not  recede  from  the  mea- 
sures already  taken.  Are  we  satisfied  upon  these  two  points  ?  We  have  had  able,  compe- 
tent commissioners  to  report,  and  they  have  laid  a  full  statement  before  us ;  we  are  bound 
to  receive  these  reports  as  correct  evidence  upon  this  subject.  In  no  part  of  the  business 
have  we  looked  to  individual  states,  or  to  the  United  States  for  assistance,  other  than  acci- 
dental or  auxiliary.  Mr.  Van  Buren  here  made  some  calculations  relative  to  the  funds.  Lay 
out  of  view,  said  he,  all  the  accidental  resources,  and  the  revenue  from  the  canal,  and  in 
completing  the  work  you  will  only  entail  upon  the  state  a  debt,  the  interest  of  which  will 
amount  to  but  about  300,000  dollars.  He  then  stated  the  amount  of  real  estate  within  the 
state  now,  and  what  it  probably  would  be,  if  the  canal  were  completed.  The  tax  would  not 
amount  to  more  than  one  mill  on  the  dollar,  unless  the  report  of  commissioners  is  a  tissue 
of  fraud  or  misrepresentation,  this  tax  will  be  sufficient,  and  more  than  sufficient,  to  complete 
the  canal.  We  are  now  to  say  that  all  our  former  proceedings  have  been  insincere,  or  we 
must  go  on  with  the  work.  The  people  in  the  districts  where  we  are  first  to  make  the 
canal,  are  willing  and  able  to  be  subjected  to  the  expense  of  those  sections.  Mr.  Van 
Buren  contended  that  the  duties  upon  salt,  and  the  auction  duties,  were  a  certain  source  of 
revenue,  and  that  these  two  sources  of  revenue  would  be  abundant,  and  more  than  abundant, 
for  ever  to  discharge  the  interest  of  the  debt  to  be  created.    Ought  we,  under  such  circum- 


APPENDIX. 


153 


stances,  to  reject  this  bill  ?  No,  sir ;  for  one  I  am  willing  to  go  to  the  length  contemplated 
by  the  bill.  The  canal  is  to  promote  the  interest  and  character  of  the  state  in  a  thousand 
ways.  But  we  are  told  that  the  people  cannot  bear  the  burden.  Sir,  I  assume  it  as  a  fact, 
that  t  lie  people  have  already  consented  to  it.  For  six  years  we  have  been  engaged  upon  this 
business.  During  this  time  our  tables  have  groaned  with  the  petitions  of  the  people  from 
every  section  of  our  country  in  favour  of  it.  And  not  a  solitary  voice  has  been  raised  against 
it.  Mr.  V.  B.  said  he  had  seen  with  regret  the  divisions  that  have  heretofore  existed  upon 
this  subject,  apparently  arising  from  hostility  to  the  commissioners.  Last  year  the  same  bill, 
in  effect,  passed  the  assembly, the  immediate  representatives  of  the  people;  and  this  year  it 
has  passed  again.  This  was  conclusive  evidence  that  the  people  have  assented  to  it.  Little 
can  be  done  by  the  commissioners,  other  than  to  make  a  loan,  before  another  session.  The 
money  cannot  be  lost — there  can  be  no  loss  at  six  per  cent.  We  have  now  all  the  informa- 
tion we  can  wish — we  must  make  up  our  minds  either  to  be  expending  large  sums  in  legis- 
lation year  after  year,  or  we  must,  go  on  with  the  project.  After  so  much  has  been  done 
and  said  upon  this  subject,  it  would  be  discreditable  to  the  state  to  abandon  it. 

"  He  considered  it  the  most  important  vote  he  ever  gave  in  his  life — but  the  project,  if  exe- 
cuted, would  raise  the  state  to  the  highest  possible  pitch  of  fame  and  grandeur.  lie  repeated 
that  we  were  bound  to  consider  that  the  people  have  given  their  assent.  Twelve  thousand 
men  of  wealth  and  respectability  in  the  city  of  New- York,  last  year  petitioned  for  the  canal ; 
and  at  all  events,  before  the  operations  would  be  commenced,  the  people,  if  opposed  to  the 
measure,  would  have  ample  time  to  express  their  will  upon  the  subject." 

When  Mr.  Van  Buren  resumed  his  seat,  Mr.  Clinton,  who  had  been  an 
attentive  listener  in  the  senate  chamber,  breaking  through  that  reserve  which 
political  collisions  had  created,  approached  him  and  expressed  his  thanks  for 
his  exertions  in  the  most  flattering  terms. 

Mr.  Van  Buren  is  a  very  eloquent  speaker  ;  but  the  character  of  his  elo- 
quence is  sui  generis.  Wo  know  of  none  of  the  mighty  masters  of  the  per- 
suasive art,  whom  he  has  adopted  for  his  model ;  and  yet  his  manner  is  grace- 
ful, and  animated  when  occasion  requires,  or  impassioned  when  engaged  upon 
an  inspiring  theme.  He  has  a  happy  command  of  language,  but  his  utterance 
is  too  rapid.  His  figure  is  small,  and  there  is  nothing  peculiar  in  his  person, 
excepting  the  fine  formation  of  his  head,  which  would  afford  an  admirable 
subject  for  a  craniologist.  With  manners  affable  and  insinuating,  he  inspires 
his  friends  with  the  strongest  attachment  known  to  political  tics ;  and  though 
self-educated,  his  professional  knowledge  is  such  as  to  have  placed  him  in  the 

55 


454 


APPENDIX. 


front  rank  at  the  bar,  while  his  successful  career  in  politics  bears  ample  testi- 
mony to  talents  of  an  elevated  order,  and  a  tact  in  the  management  of  men, 
and  in  the  control  of  parties,  without  a  living  parallel. 

Messrs.  Livingston,  Elmendorf,  and  Ogden,  of  Delaware,  severally  spoke  in 
reply ;  but  when  the  main  question  on  the  enacting  clause  was  taken,  it  was 
carried  in  the  affirmative,  21  to  8.  In  the  course  of  this  day's  sitting,  a  very 
important  motion  was  made  by  Mr.  Van  Buren,  with  success.  The  bill,  as  it 
passed  the  assembly,  authorised  the  loans  to  be  made  on  the  canal  fund  only  ; 
and  that  was  the  best  form  in  which  it  could  in  the  first  instance,  be  passed 
in  that  body.  The  vital  importance  of  extending  the  security,  was  at  that 
time  fully  appreciated  by  the  friends  of  the  canal,  and  has  been  amply  con- 
firmed by  experience.  This  amendment  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  16  to  11. 
Several  other  amendments  were  made  to  the  bill  by  the  senate,  but  there  was 
none  of  sufficient  importance  to  require  a  specification  here.  Some  of  these 
amendments  were  concurred  in  by  the  assembly,  among  which  was  the  im- 
portant one  mentioned  above  ;  and  from  others  the  senate  receded.  The 
result  was,  that  the  bill  was  successfully  carried  through  both  houses  in  the 
course  of  the  evening  session  of  the  same  day,  and  sent  to  the  Council  of  Re- 
vision. It  became  a  law  on  the  following  day,  viz.  the  15th  of  April.  Under 
this  act,  the  first  meeting  of  the  commissioners  to  receive  proposals,  and  make 
contracts  preparatory  to  the  actual  commencement  of  the  work,  was  held  at 
Utica,  on  the  3d  of  June,  1817. 

Colonel  Young  and  Mr.  Holley,  remained  to  take  charge  of  the  commence- 
ment of  the  work  upon  the  middle  section,  which  it  was  wisely  resolved  should 
be  first  completed.  There  was  foresight  in  this  determination ;  for  it  was  a 
period  of  increasing  political  excitement,  and  a  portion  of  the  public  press  had 
already  become  the  bitter  assailants  of  the  president  of  the  board,  and  were 
endeavouring  to  render  the  work  itself  unpopular,  by  attributing  sinister  views 
to  the  great  man  who  it  was  obvious  would  share  in  large  measure  the  glory 
of  success,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  be  inevitably  crushed  by  the  odium  atten- 
dant upon  defeat.  Hence,  therefore,  it  was  very  possible  that  the  great  work 
might  even  yet  be  arrested  by  the  madness  of  party.  But  by  constructing  the 
middle  section  first,  the  whole  country  upon  the  eastern  and  western  sections, 


APPENDIX. 


455 


anxious  to  enjoy  the  like  advantages,  would  compel  the  legislature  to  make 
such  liberal  appropriations  as  would  be  adequate  to  a  vigorous  prosecution  of 
the  work  upon  both  these  extensive  sections  at  the  same  time,  and  thus  secure 
a  more  speedy  completion  of  the  whole  enterprise. 

It  was  determined  to  break  ground  in  the  vicinity  of  Rome ;  and  an  ar- 
rangement was  made  by  the  people  of  that  village,  with  Colonel  Young  and 
Mr.  Holley,  to  unite  with  our  joyous  national  festival,  the  ceremonies  of  com- 
mencing the  excavation  of  the  Great  Canal.  Accordingly,  on  the  4th  of 
July,  at  sunrise,  a  large  number  of  citizens,  accompanied  by  the  acting  com- 
missioners and  the  engineers,  proceeded  to  the  place  appointed.  The  Hon. 
Joshua  Hathaway,  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  west,  made  a  few  pertinent  ob- 
servations on  behalf  of  the  citizens,  and  at  the  conclusion  delivered  the  spade 
into  the  hands  of  the  commissioners,  by  whom  it  was  presented  to  Judge 
Richardson,  the  first  contractor  engaged  in  the  work.  The  following  neat  and 
pertinent  address  was  delivered  by  Colonel  Young  on  this  occasion  : 

"  Fet.t.ow-oitizkns  -—We  have  assembled  to  commence  the  excavation  of  the  Erie 
Canal.  The  work  when  accomplished  will  connect  our  western  inland  seas  with  the  Atlan- 
tic ocean.  It  will  diffuse  the  benefits  of  internal  navigation  over  a  surface  of  vast  extent, 
blessed  with  a  salubrious  climate  and  luxuriant  soil,  embracing  a  tract  of  country  capable  of 
sustaining  more  human  beings  than  were  ever  accommodated  by  any  work  of  the  kind. 

"  By  this  great  highway,  unborn  millions  will  easily  transport  their  surplus  productions  to 
the  shores  of  the  Atlantic,  procure  their  supplies,  and  hold  a  useful  and  profitable  intercourse 
with  all  the  maritime  nations  of  the  earth. 

"  The  expense  and  labour  of  this  great  undertaking,  bears  no  proportion  to  its  utility. 
Nature  has  kindly  afforded  every  facility  ;  we  have  all  the  moral  and  physical  means  within 
our  reach  and  control.  Let  us  then  proceed  to  the  work,  animated  by  the  prospect  of  its 
speedy  accomplishment,  and  cheered  with  the  anticipated  benedictions  of  a  grateful  pos- 
terity." 

Judge  Richardson  then  thrust  the  first  spade  into  the  earth,  and  the  example 
was  followed  by  the  assembled  citizens,  and  his  own  labourers,  each  emulous 
of  the  other,  and  all  ambitious  of  the  honour  of  participating  in  the  labours  of 
this  interesting  and  joyful  occasion.  "  Thus,  accompanied  by  the  acclama- 
tions of  the  citizens,  and  the  discharge  of  cannon,  was  struck  the  first  stroke 


456 


APPENDIX. 


towards  the  construction  of  a  work,  which  in  its  completion  has  united  Erie 
with  the  Hudson ;  the  west  with  the  Atlantic ;  which  has  scattered  plenty 
along  its  borders  ;  carried  refinement  and  civilization  to  the  regions  of  the 
wilderness ;  and  which  will  ever  remain  a  proud  and  useful  monument  of  the 
enlightened  views  of  its  projectors,  and  of  the  wisdom  and  magnanimity  of  the 
state  of  New- York." 

The  next  important  period  in  the  legislative  history  of  the  canals,  was  the 
session  of  1819.  The  work  on  the  middle  section  had  been  prosecuted  with 
such  vigour  and  success,  that  the  canal  commissioners  felt  justified  in 
recommending  the  necessary  appropriations  for  completing  the  whole.  A 
bill  for  this  purpose  passed  the  assembly.  But  it  met  with  much  opposition 
in  the  senate,  and  several  attempts  were  made  to  defeat  it,  by  motions  to 
strike  out,  first,  that  part  which  authorised  the  construction  of  the  western 
section  ;  and,  secondly,  that  which  in  like  manner  authorised  the  construction 
of  the  eastern  section,  from  Utica  to  the  Hudson  River.  I  believe  it  may 
be  truly  said  of  Mr.  Van  Rurpn  nnrl  Colonel  Young,  that  it  was  to  their  un- 
wearied exertions,  mainly,  that  the  attempts  made  at  this  time  to  cripple  the 
bill,  were  defeated.  At  this  session  of  the  legislature,  Henry  Seymour,  Esq., 
was  appointed  to  the  board  of  commissioners,  in  the  place  of  Mr.  Ellicott,  re- 
signed. [Subsequently,  in  1821,  William  C.  Bouck,  Esq.  was  added  to  the 
board.] 

The  next  grand  landmark  in  the  bright  career  of  New-York  in  the  work  of 
internal  improvement,  was  the  celebration  of  the  completion  of  the  middle 
section,  which  event  was  commemorated  on  the  4th  of  July,  1820 ;  exactly 
three  years  from  the  day  of  its  commencement.  This  section  extended  from 
Utica  to  Montezuma,  on  the  Seneca  River,  a  distance,  I  believe,  of  ninety -six 
miles.  In  conformity  with  previous  arrangements,  the  people  from  Ontario, 
Genesee,  Cayuga,  Onondaga,  Madison,  and  Oneida  counties,  assembled  on 
the  morning  of  that  day,  in  the  basin  formed  by  the  junction  of  the  Salina, 
with  the  line  of  the  Great  Canal  at  Syracuse.  The  people,  many  of  them, 
came  in  boats  from  either  direction,  on  the  canal.  Seventy-three  boats,  of 
different  sizes,  filled  with  people  bearing  different  standards,  and  many  of 
them  gaily  and  tastefully  ornamented,  were  present.    On  board  of  one  of 


APPENDIX. 


457 


these,  the  "Oneida  Chief,"  were,  his  excellency  Governor  Clinton,  Thomas 
J.  Oakley,  Esq.  then  attorney  general,  John  C.  Spencer,  Esq.  then  speaker  of 
the  house  of  assembly,  Myron  Holley,  Esq.  one  of  the  commissioners,  together 
with  the  late  Col.  Charles  G.  Haines,  and  Pierre  C.  Van  Wyck,  Esq.  of  this 
city,  with  other  distinguished  gentlemen  from  New-York,  Albany,  Utica,  and 
elsewhere.  An  appropriate  address  was  delivered  to  an  audience  of  many 
thousands,  by  Samuel  Miles  Hopkins,  Esq.,  then  of  Genesee  county,  now  of 
Albany.  His  speech  was  every  way  a  national  one,  embracing  the  great 
topics  connected  with  the  perpetuity  of  our  republican  government,  and  beau- 
tifully proportioned  civil  institutions,  and  the  prosperity  of  the  American  em- 
pire. Every  heart  beat  warm  with  national  enthusiasm,  and  the  rising  glory 
of  the  state  of  New-York,  filled  and  elevated  every  mind  capable  of  reflecting 
on  the  tendency  of  the  scene,  or  the  new  and  splendid  era  opening  upon  her 
destinies.  After  the  address,  the  boats  moved  in  procession  down  the  lateral 
canal  to  the  basin  at  Salina,  where  the  day  was  concluded  by  the  usual  fes- 
tivities incident  to  great  and  joyous  public  occasions.  Such  a  spectacle,  in 
point  of  novelty  and  grandeur,  had  at  that  time  never  been  witnessed  in  the 
interior ;  and  there  was  a  corresponding  degree  of  interest  manifested  by  t\\e 
people  to  behold  it. 

The  next  period  which  stands  prominently  forth  in  our  canal  history,  and 
which  the  scope  of  your  request  renders  it  proper  for  me  to  notice,  is  the  com- 
pletion of  the  Cham  plain  Canal,  and  of  the  eastern  section  of  the  Great  Erie 
Canal,  together  with  the  ceremonies  which  marked  the  descent  of  the  first 
boat  into  the  Hudson.  This  important  event  was  celebrated  at  Albany  on 
Wednesday  the  8th  of  October,  18'23.  Extensive  preparations  were  made  by 
the  corporation  and  citizens  of  Albany,  together  with  the  military,  and  the 
several  literary,  benevolent,  and  other  societies  of  the  capital,  to  honour  the 
day  with  suitable  demonstrations  of  satisfaction  and  joy.  Invitations  having 
been  extended  to  New-York  to  participate  in  the  proposed  festivities,  a  public 
meeting  was  held  at  the  old  Tontine  CorFee-house,  and  a  large  committee  of 
our  citizens  deputed  to  represent  the  great  commercial  mart  of  the  state  at 
the  political  capital.  The  deputation  from  this  city  amounting  to  about  fifty 
gentlemen,  took  passage,  a  part  in  the  Chancellor  Livingston  steam-boat,  and 


458 


APPENDIX. 


a  part  in  the  Richmond,  both  of  which  were  handsomely  decorated  with 
flags  and  streamers  for  the  occasion.  At  West  Point  they  were  joined  by 
Major  Worth,  with  several  officers,  and  the  elegant  military  band  at  that  post. 
The  day  was  ushered  in  at  Albany  by  the  ringing  of  bells  and  firing  of  cannon, 
and  at  an  early  hour  the  people,  in  countless  hundreds,  were  in  motion.  The 
commissioners  were  descending  the  canal,  after  the  completion  of  these  por- 
tions of  their  labours ;  and  at  sunrise  a  superb  packet-boat,  called  the  "  De 
Witt  Clinton,"  proceeded  with  a  committee,  to  meet  them  at  the  junction  of 
the  canals,  near  the  Cahoos,  and  escort  them  to  the  city.  At  the  proper  hour, 
an  immense  military  and  civic  procession  was  formed,  which  marched  to  the 
canal  near  the  lock  through  which  it  takes  its  last  leap  into  the  bosom  of  the 
Hudson.  The  concourse  of  people  was  very  great.  The  windows,  and  tops 
of  the  houses,  were  filled ;  the  fields  covered ;  and  the  banks  of  the  canal 
lined  with  people  for  a  distance  of  several  miles.  At  12  o'clock  the  aquatic 
procession,  consisting  of  a  long  line  of  boats,  handsomely  decorated  for  the 
occasion,  preceded  by  the  "De  Witt  Clinton,"  having  on  board,  the  great 
man  whose  name  she  bore,  together  with  the  commissioners  and  committee, 
arrived,,  and  gracefully  entered  the  last  lock,  beneath  a  triumphal  arch.  The 
ceremony  of  laying  the  cope-stone  was  performed  by  Ezra  Ames,  Esq.  High 
Priest  of  the  Grand  Royal  Arch  Chapter.  The  boat  was  then  allowed  to  de- 
scend into  the  Hudson  amidst  deafening  peals  of  applause  by  the  multitude, 
and  the  still  louder  roar  of  artillery.  But  as  you  were  among  the  invited 
guests  on  that  occasion,  and  standing  at  the  side  of  your  friend,  the  lamented 
Clinton,  at  the  proud  moment  when  the  vessel  met  -the  embrace  of  the  river, 
I  think  it  not  unlikely  that  the  picture  yet  in  your  memory  will  render  my  sketch 
comparatively  dry  and  uninteresting.  A  short  address,  calculated  for  this  part 
of  the  celebration,  was  here  delivered  by  Dr.  Mitchill.  After  sweeping  gaily 
down  the  river  for  some  distance,  the  boats  returned  to  the  dock,  and  the 
commissioners,  joining  with  the  procession,  repaired  to  the  capitol,  in  front  of 
which  a  spacious  pavilion  had  been  erected  for  the  reception  of  the  several 
committees  and-'distinguished  guests.  The  ceremonies  and  proceedings  were 
here  opened  by  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  Chester,  of  whom  it  may  most  truly  be  said, 
"  none  knew  him  but  to  love — none  named  him  but  to  praise,"  who  addressed 


APPENDIX. 


159 


the  throne  of  grace  in  a  fervent  prayer,  characterized  by  the  enthusiasm  of 
gratitude,  piety,  and  patriotism.  A  congratulatory  address  was  then  delivered 
to  the  canal  commissioners  in  behalf  of  the  corporation,  by  Charles  E.  Dud- 
ley, Esq.  then  mayor  of  that  city,  now  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States. — 
The  late  William  Bayard,  Esq.  chairman  of  the  New-York  committee,  there- 
upon rose  and  tendered  the  congratulations  of  the  citizens  of  New-York  to 
those  of  Albany,  through  their  committee.  His  address  was  brief,  but  neat 
and  pertinent;  and  was  replied  to  in  an  excellent  speech  by  William  James, 
Esq.  of  the  Albanian  committee.  I  wish  you  had  room  to  preserve  all  these 
addresses  ;  but  I  fear  it  would  swell  your  volume  to  an  unreasonable  size, 
should  you  incorporate  therein  all  the  documents  of  this  kind  which  are  really 
worthy  of  preservation.  The  exercises  at  the  pavilion  were  closed  by  a  be- 
nediction ;  a  feu  de  joie  was  fired  by  the  troops  on  duty  ;  and  the  day  was 
concluded  by  a  sumptuous  banquet,  and  a  display  of  lire-works  in  the 
evening. 

Thus  closed  the  second  proud  festival  of  New-York  connected  with  the 
march  of  internal  improvement.  But  a  greater,  prouder,  happier  scene  was 
then  at  hand — a  day  of  which  it  may  fearlessly  be  said,  there  is  none  like  it 
in  our  history,  nor  can  there  probably  be  another.  I  need  not  stop  to  inform 
you  that  I  now  allude  to  the  day  on  which  was  commemorated  the  completion 
of  the  same  grand  design,  then  so  near  its  consummation.  The  work  was 
finished  on  the  26th  of  October,  1825 — eight  years  and  four  months  from  the 
time  of  its  commencement.  Extensive  preparations  were  made  for  the  cele- 
bration of  this  auspicious  event,  not  only  in  New- York  and  Albany,  but  along 
the  whole  line  of  the  canal  from  the  Hudson  to  Lake  Erie.  It  had  been  arrang- 
ed that  a  procession  of  boats  should  start  from  Lake  Erie  for  New-York,  imme- 
diately as  the  last  blow  should  be  struck.  On  board  of  one  of  these  boats 
Governor  Clinton  and  Lieutenant-Governor  Tallmadge,  with  the  canal  com- 
missioners, and  other  distinguished  gentlemen  took  passage  ;  and  the  other 
boats  were  occupied  by  committees  of  gentlemen  from  the  different  villages 
along  the  route,  participating  in  the  festivities  which  everywhere  marked  the 
progress  of  the  novel  flotilla.  To  guard  against  mistake,  or  disappointment  in 
Albany  and  this  city,  in  case  the  work  should  not  be  completed  within  the  time 


460 


APPENDIX. 


designated,  pieces  of  ordnance  were  planted  at  suitable  points  along  the  whole 
intermediate  distance,  so  that  a  signal  gun  could  be  fired  at  the  moment  the 
boats  should  move  from  the  lake  into  the  canal ;  which  signal  being  repeated 
from  gun  to  gun,  was  to  serve  the  double  purpose  of  a  grand  salute,  and  a  me- 
dium of  intelligence.  The  plan  was  accurately  and  effectively  executed.  In 
one  hour  and  thirty  minutes  from  the  firing  of  the  first  gun,  at  Buffalo,  its 
echo  was  heard  in  this  city  ;  and  in  about  the  same  period  of  time,  by  the 
same  process,  the  people  of  Buffalo  were  apprised  of  the  fact  of  our  having 
received  the  grateful  intelligence — a  distance,  both  ways,  of  nearly  eleven 
hundred  miles.  Throughout  the  whole  extent,  from  Erie  to  the  ocean,  it  was 
a  voyage  of  triumph.  Every  village  had  prepared  its  festival,  each  vieing  with 
the  others  to  excel ;  and  for.  the  whole  week,  the  commissioners  only  left  one 
scene  of  rejoicing  to  mingle  in  another. 

The  procession  reached  Albany  on  the  morning  of  Wednesday  the  2d  of 
November,  and  arrived  at  iliis  city  on  tliu  morning  of  the  7th.  I  have  else- 
where had  the  honour  of  writing  a  detailed  account  of  the  festivities  observed 
during  this  memorable  celebration,  from  the  commencement  at  Buffalo  to 
that  scene  of  enchantment  with  which  they  were  concluded  in  this  city ;  to 
which  I  beg  leave  to  refer  those  who  are  are  desirous  of  further  particulars.* 

Suffice  it,  therefore,  to  say,  in  conclusion,  that  the  celebration  at  Albany 
was  upon  a  far  larger  and  more  brilliant  scale  than  had  ever  been  witnessed  in 
that  venerable  capital  before.  The  descent  of  the  Hudson  presented  a  glori- 
ous spectacle  along  the  whole  river — the  canal-boats  being  accompanied  by 
a  fleet  of  steam-boats,  all  gorgeously  decorated  with  flags  and  streamers  of 
every  variety.  The  banks  were  lined  with  people,  whose  loud  huzzas,  min- 
gling with  the  roar  of  artillery  at  every  village,  proclaimed  the  joy  with  which 
all  were  animated  by  the  event,  and  by  the  beautiful  and  cheering  pageant 
passing  before  their  eyes  like  a  delightful  vision.  Of  the  celebration  in  this 
city,  I  need  only  say,  that  we  shall  "never  look  upon  its  like  again."    It  was 


*  Vide  the  quarto  volume  published  soon  afterwards  by  the  Corporation,  containing  Col- 
den's  Memoir,  and  many  other  documents  connected  with  this  celebration. — Appendix,  pp. 
288—331  inclusive. 


APPENDIX. 


4C1 


a  tranquil,  beautiful  day,  and  a  thousand  circumstances,  both  upon  land  and 
water,  conspired  to  increase  the  interest  and  magnificence  of  the  scene. — 
Never  before  was  there  presented  to  the  eye  of  man  so  rich  and  splendid  an 
exhibition,  upon  the  water,  as  was  displayed  on  that  day  in  the  harbour  of 
New-York.  And  never,  in  this  country,  was  there  so  brilliant  a  procession 
upon  land,  or  such  universal  demonstrations  of  proud  and  heartfelt  joy  among 
the  people.  And  the  prominent  figure  in  this  scene  of  public  exultation, 
was  a  man  whose  name  will  be  preserved  from  the  stroke  of  time,  by  the 
benedictions  of  remotest  posterity  ; — one  of  those  men  whom  one  age  is  in- 
sufficient to  appreciate  5 — whose  thoughts  and  purposes  run  through  many 
ages  ; — and  whose  minds  are  never  fairly  developed  till  their  conceptions  have 
been  embodied  in  plans  and  measures,  which  continue  blessing  a  nation  from 
generation  to  generation.  That  man — need  I  add  his  name  ? — was  De  Witt 
Clinton. 

I  have  the  honour  to  remain,  sir, 

Your  most  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  L.  STONE. 

Dr.  David  Hos.vck. 


As  the  following  letter,  written  at  my  request,  by  Mr.  Lynch,  contains 
many  details  connected  with  the  subject  of  the  preceding  communication,  it 
is  entitled  to  a  place  in  this  work. 

Letter  from  the  Hon.  James  Lynch  to  David  Hosack,  M.D. 

New-York,  October  1,  1828. 

Dear  Sir, 

It  affords  me  pleasure  to  have  it  in  my  power  to  comply  with  your  request 
that  I  should  furnish  you  a  statement  of  the  proceedings  in  the  legislature  of 
this  state,  of  which  I  was  a  member  in  the  session  of  1810,  on  the  bill  relating 
to  the  Eric  and  Champlain  canals. 

56 


462 


APPENDIX. 


The  numerous  petitions  from  the  whole  extent  of  country  through  which  the 
canals  pass,  as  well  as  from  the  cities  of  New-York  and  Troy,  praying  that 
efficient  measures  might  be  adopted  for  the  commencement  of  that  great 
work,  were  referred  to  a  joint  committee  of  both  houses,  which  was  convened 
without  delay.  The  first  step  taken  was  to  invite  a  conference  with  the  canal 
commissioners  appointed  by  the  act  of  1811,  and  to  request  them  to  lay  before 
the  committee  the  surveys  which  had  been  made  under  their  direction,  with 
such  information  as  they  were  in  possession  of  on  the  subject ;  one  only  of 
those  commissioners  attended,  and  made  some  verbal  communications  of  little 
importance,  and  presented  some  maps  of  a  survey  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Mohawk  River.  He  stated  that  the  principal  maps  and  papers  necessary  for  a 
satisfactory  examination  of  the  subject  were  not  in  his  hands,  but  were  pro- 
bably in  the  possession  of  another  of  the  commissioners  at  New-York,  and 
that  he  would  procure  them  for  the  committee.  After  a  delay  of  three  weeks, 
that  gentleman  informed  the  committee  that  these  maps  and  papers  could  not 
be  found.  A  reference  was  then  made  to  the  engineers  who  had  made  those 
surveys  and  estimates,  who  very  promptly  furnished  the  same  to  the  commit- 
tee, which  satisfied  them  not  only  of  the  practicability  of  the  undertaking, 
but  that  the  resources  of  the  state  were  adequate  to  the  purpose.  On  the 
21st  of  March  the  committee  presented  a  report  recommending  the  imme- 
diate commencement  of  the  work,  accompanied  by  a  bill  containing  provisions 
to  that  effect. 

A  determined  spirit  of  opposition,  headed  by  a  gentleman  of  distinguished 
talents,  was  soon  evinced  by  the  members  from  those  parts  of  the  state  which 
considered  that  they  were  not  directly  to  be  benefited  by  the  measure ;  and 
under  pretence  of  making  the  bill  more  acceptable,  ingenious  attempts  were 
made  to  alter  the  bill,  so  as  to  dissatisfy  some  of  its  friends,  and  detach  them 
from  its  support ;  this  plan  for  one  day  succeeded,  and  the  friends  of  the  bill 
had  almost  determined  to  abandon  it  for  the  session.  I  had  been  absent  for  a 
few  days,  and  on  my  return  found  the  bill  in  this  critical  situation.  1  immedi- 
ately called  on  Mr.  Jay,  and  a  few  other  members,  and  urged  them  to  join  me 
in  a  vigorous  effort  to  rally  the  friends  of  the  bill,  and  pass  it  as  it  was  reported 
without  any  material  alteration.    In  this  we  succeeded,  except  that  we  sub- 


APPENDIX. 


163 


mitted  to  the  addition  of  a  clause,  taxing  lands  adjacent  to  the  canal,  if  it 
should  be  found  necessary,  and  the  bill  was  passed  in  the  Assembly  by  a  very 
large  majority. 

The  most  confident  expectation  was  then  entertained  that  the  bill  would 
pass,  as  it  was  known  that  tlierc  was  a  decided  majority  of  the  Senate  whose 
sentiments  had  been  expressed  in  its  favour. 

When  the  bill  was  under  consideration  in  the  Senate,  an  amendment,  similar 
to  one  which  had  been  proposed  in  the  house  by  an  opponent  of  the  bill,  was 
moved,  which  had  for  its  object  to  defer  the  commencement  of  the  work,  and 
was  most  unexpectedly  carried,  many  members  who  had  uniformly  and  openly 
advocated  the  canal  cause,  voting  for  the  amendment ;  and  among  them,  if  I 
mistake  not,  one  senator  who  was  in  the  committee,  and  agreed  to  the  bill  as 
reported.  These  gentlemen  gave  a  silent  vote  on  the  occasion,  but  it  was  well 
understood  that  they  were  induced  to  this  course  by  political  considerations, 
not  dictated  by  any  regard  to  the  interests  of  the  public  ;  it  is,  how  ever,  entirely 
unnecessary  and  unconnected  with  the  object  of  this  communication  to  enter 
into  any  examination  of  that  matter,  nor  would  I  have  referred  to  it  now,  were 
it  not  to  show,  that  a  few  individuals  by  consulting  their  private  views  instead  of 
the  public  good,  put  in  jeopardy  one  of  the  most  useful  public  works  which 
has  ever  been  accomplished  ;  and,  but  for  a  concurrence  of  fortuitous  cir- 
cumstances, the  commencement  of  the  work  might  have  been  delayed  for 
many  years  in  consequence  of  their  votes  on  that  occasion. 

On  the  return  of  the  bill  to  the  Assembly,  there  was  a  difference  of  opinion 
among  its  friends  as  to  the  policy  of  concurring  in  the  amendments  of  the 
Senate,  some  being  of  opinion  that  it  would  be  better  to  do  nothing,  than  to 
pass  a  bill  which  merely  provided  for  a  further  examination  of  the  country, 
and  appropriated  funds  only  for  that  object,  thus  throwing  the  responsibility 
on  the  Senate :  others,  with  whom  I  concurred,  thought  it  would  be  better  by 
adopting  the  amendment,  to  appoint  active  commissioners,  who  would  cause 
the  proper  surveys  and  estimates  to  be  prepared  and  laid  before  the  public  ; 
being  well  convinced,  that  the  more  the  subject  was  investigated,  the  more 
certain  would  be  its  success  :  I  then  moved  to  concur  with  the  Senate  in  their 


464 


APPENDIX. 


amendment,  and,  after  a  spirited  opposition,  succeeded  in  the  last  hour  of  the 
session. 

The  effect  was  sucli  as  we  anticipated.  The  new  commissioners  entered 
upon  the  duties  assigned  them  with  energy,  and  presented  at  the  next  session 
of  the  legislature,  a  report  founded  on  minute  and  accurate  surveys  and  esti- 
mates, which  refuted  every  objection  that  had  been  urged,  and  produced  so 
strong  a  conviction  on  the  public  mind  of  the  practicability  of  the  scheme, 
and  of  the  ability  to  execute  it,  that  the  law  of  1817  was  passed,  providing 
for  the  commencement  of  an  improvement  which  has  exceeded  in  utility  and 
importance  any  thing  before  attempted  in  the  United  States ;  and,  by  its  ex- 
ample, induced  our  sister  states  to  develope  their  resources,  and  improve  the 
immense  advantages  afforded  by  nature  to  this  free  and  happy  country. 

I  am,  respectfully, 

Your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 

JAMES  LYNCH. 


Note  DD.— p.  109. 

Removal  of  Mr.  Clinton  as  Canal  Commissioner. 

The  following  proceedings  and  resolutions,  which  took  place  at  the  public 
meetings  called  in  Albany  and  in  the  city  of  New-York,  immediately  after 
the  removal  of  Mr.  Clinton,  and  which  were  echoed  throughout  the  state  and 
country,  abundantly  show  the  sensations  of  surprise  and  indignation  which 
that  event  created,  while  the  replies  of  Mr.  Clinton  to  the  addresses  which 
were  delivered  and  accompanied  the  resolutions  presented  to  him,  exhibit  the 
magnanimity  and  elevated  tone  of  feeling  which  characterised  the  subject  of 
those  proceedings,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  render  the  succeeding  documents 
peculiarly  interesting  and  deserving  of  public  record. 


APPENDIX. 


165 


[From  the  Albany  Daily  Advbrtiskk.) 

At  the  meeting  at  the  Capitol,  on  Friday  evening,  the  chairman,  the  Hon.  John  Tayler,  on 
taking  his  seat,  addressed  the  meeting  in  a  style  which  went  to  the  heart  and  affections  of 
every  hearer.  The  age,  experience,  public  services,  and  venerable  appearance,  of  the 
speaker,  excited  the  undivided  attention  of  the  assembled  multitude.  It  was  emphatically  the 
voice  of  the  patriarch  to  his  countrymen.  He  addressed  the  meeting  substantially  as  follows  : 

Fellow-Citizens, — This  meeting  has  been  convened  for  the  purpose  of  taking  into 
consideration  the  services  of  De  Witt  Clinton  as  canal  commissioner,  and  from  which  he 
has  recently  been  removed  by  the  legislature.  Notwithstanding  my  advanced  age  and 
declining  health,  I  have  made  an  effort  to  mingle  with  you,  to  render  praise  to  a  man  whose 
exalted  virtue  and  talents  not  only  adorn  his  own  country,  but  have  claimed  the  attention 
and  admiration  of  foreign  nations. 

There  have  been  various  and  conflicting  opinions  as  to  the  original  projector  of  the  Erie 
Canal :  speculative  opinions  on  this  subject  were  probably  indulged  at  a  very  early  period  ; 
but  this  is  not  our  present  inquiry. 

The  knowledge  I  possess,  in  relation  to  the  agency  Mr.  Clinton  has  taken  in  bringing  this 
stupendous  work  into  successful  operation,  induces  me  to  state  a  few  facts,  which,  indeed, 
must  be  within  the  recollection  of  many  gentlemen  of  this  numerous  meeting. 

Mr.  Clinton  was  appointed,  at  a  very  early  period,  one  of  the  commissioners  to  explore 
the  route  of  the  Erie  Canal,  with  instructions  to  report  to  the  legislature  the  practicability 
and  expense  of  accomplishing  this  magnificent  work ;  and  I  believe  it  will  not  be  doubted  that 
this  incipient  step  was  accomplished  by  his  influence  and  unremitting  industry,  and  his 
continued  perseverance  at  length  procured  the  passage  of  the  law,  (notwithstanding  the 
doubtsof  his  friends  and  the revilings  of  his  enemies,)  making  appropriations  and  appointing 
commissioners  to  commence  and  complete  a  work  that  lias  not  been  surpassed  in  any  age  or 
country. 

Mr.  Clinton  was  one  of  those  commissioners,  and  as  he  was  considered  one  of  the  principal 
instigators,  as  was  alleged,  of  this  visionary  project,  he  was  subjected  to  the  most  bitter 
reproaches  that  his  infuriated  and  vindictive  enemies  could  heap  upon  him  ;  every  means  was 
resorted  to,  that  envy  and  the  malignant  passions  of  man  could  invent,  to  hurl  him  from  that 
exalted  eminence  he  had  so  justly  obtained.  His  project  was  assailed  by  sophistical  argu- 
ments, and  groundless  calculations  ;  he  has  himself  been  basely  traduced  as  ambitious  and 
dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  his  country  ;  but  he  has  surmounted  all  these  difficulties,  and 
lived  to  see  the  "  big  ditch,"  as  it  has  been  sarcastically  called,  nearly  finished. 

After  all  his  toil,  incessant  anxiety  and  labour,  it  has  been  left  for  the  present  legislature 
to  complete  the  climax  of  injustice.  They,  on  the  last  day  of  their  session,  outraged  all  the 
rules  of  justice  and  propriety  by  passing  a  resolution  to  remove  him  from  his  office  of  canal 
commissioner,  which,  in  my  humble  opinion,  is  not  only  a  disgrace  to  themselves,  but  disre- 


466 


APPENDIX. 


putable  to  the  state.  I  shall,  gentlemen,  trespass  no  further  on  your  time,  hut  I  presume 
the  subject  will  be  more  ably  elucidated  by  those  that  will  follow  me. 

After  the  venerable  chairman  had  concluded  his  remarks,  Col.  James  M'Kown  addressed 
the  meeting  in  an  energetic  and  forcible  manner,  and  with  great  eloquence,  exhibited  the 
claims  of  Mr.  Clinton  to  the  gratitude  of  his  countrymen,  and  pointed  out  the  injustice 
which  had  been  manifested  in  his  wanton  and  unprovoked  removal  from  office.  The  generous 
and  patriotic  sentiments  of  the  speaker  were  warmly  seconded  by  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
audience,  which  burst  forth  in  repeated  and  protracted  cheers.  The  following  is  an  imper- 
fect sketch  of  his  remarks. 

Mr.  M'Kown  said,  in  introducing  the  resolutions  which  he  intended  to  offer,  that  he  con- 
gratulated himself  in  being  able  unexpectedly  to  be  present  at  a  meeting  of  his  fellow- 
citizens  on  a  subject  in  which  not  only  this  state,  but  the  nation  at  large,  were  so  deeply 
interested.  It  was  peculiarly  proper  that  the  inhabitants  of  Albany  should  express  their 
opinion  of  the  public  services  of  their  esteemed  fellow-citizen,  the  Honourable  De  Witt 
Clinton,  in  relation  to  the  great  measure  of  the  canal  policy.  But  a  few  months  since  we, 
as  citizens,  assembled  together  to  celebrate  the  important  event  of  the  junction  of  the  inland 
seas  of  the  west  with  the  waters  of  the  Hudson,  to  admire  the  successful  efforts  of  science 
in  mingling  the  waves  of  Erie  with  the  tide  of  the  Atlantic — to  lay  the  cap-stone  in  this 
magnificent  structure,  which  is  to  aggrandize  our  state  and  common  country,  and  add  to  the 
national  character  by  the  wonderful  improvements  in  our  yet  infant  republic. 

What  heart  was  there  on  that  occasion  that  did  not  fill  with  gratitude  to  the  men  who  were 
instrumental  in  this  mighty  work  ?  What  hand  was  there  that  did  not  point  to  DE  WITT 
CLINTON ;  and  with  one  common  impulse  assist  to  inscribe  beneath  that  name,  on  the 
scroll  of  history,  public  benefactor  ! 

Who  would  then  have  believed,  that  in  so  short  a  period  we  would  have  been  called 
together  on  an  occasion  like  the  present,  to  express  our  sentiments  of  gratitude  towards 
that  benefactor,  and  our  feelings  towards  those  who  would  vainly  attempt  to  tear  away  the 
wreath  of  honour  ? 

He  has  been  displaced  from  his  official  station  by  a  majority  of  the  legislature.  That 
legislature  must  first  erase  the  power  of  memory  from  the  people  of  this  country,  if  they 
would  hope  to  make  them  forget  the  gratitude  that  is  due  to  him.  It  is  with  amazement 
the  people  ask  of  their  delegates,  why  is  Mr.  Clinton  removed  from  the  honorary  station  of 
president  of  the  board  of  canal  commissioners  ?  Not  to  save  the  public  expense,  for  his  ser- 
vices have  been  gratuitous — not  because  he  engaged  the  state  in  a  visionary  and  expensive 
scheme,  for  he,  with  those  who  were  willing  to  hazard  their  public  reputation  with  his,  have 
brought  it  to  a  most  successful  termination. 

It  was  to  have  been  hoped  and  believed,  for  the  honour  and  dignity  of  our  state,  that  this 
littleness  of  malice,  this  virulence  of  party,  would  not  at  least  have  been  manifested  towards 


APPENDIX. 


4G7 


this  distinguished  individual,  by  any  of  the  present  generation,  who  ought  so  well  to  know 
his  wortli  and  public  services,  in  the  station  from  which  he  has  just  been  displaced.  Dis- 
placed by  the  very  men  too,  who,  while  the  ultimate  success  of  the  canal  policy  was  to  be 
tested,  claimed  it  as  a  merit  to  oppose,  and  to  charge  him  as  being  the  very  father  of  this  stu- 
pendous undertaking. 

Our  venerable  chairman,  who  has  so  long  acted  with  him,  has  alluded  to  the  agency  and 
perseverance  of  Mr.  Clinton,  in  originating,  advancing,  and  after  surmounting  every  obstacle, 
finally  completing  this  stupendous  work.  Need  more  than  allusion  be  made  to  those  facts, 
to  those  who,  living  at  the  seat  of  our  state  government,  have  personally  witnessed  these 
efforts?  Every  man  of  intelligence  not  only  in  this  state,  but  in  this  republic,  has  known 
and  felt  them.    His  cotemporaries  have  acknowledged  them ;  posterity  will  appreciate  them. 

Within  these  walls  most,  if  not  all  of  us,  have  heard  it  alleged  with  apparent  malicious 
triumph,  that  Mr.  Clinton  must  stand  or  fall  in  public  estimation,  by  the  result  of  this  mea- 
sure alone.  He  has  stood.  He  now  stands  splendidly  on  a  towering  monument  of  im- 
perishable fame,  which  neither  envy  can  corrode,  nor  malice  with  her  darkened  wings,  over- 
shadow or  conceal. 

Mr.  chairman,  said  Mr.  M'Kown,  the  voice  of  this  state,  the  sentiments  of  the  whole  of  this 
confederated  republic,  as  well  as  of  those  European  governments,  which  have  looked  to  us 
with  an  intense  interest  on  this  subject,  will  be  heard  to  condemn,  if  not  felt  to  despise  us 
for  this  wanton  injustice. 

When  we  are  reproached  abroad  that  republics  are  ungrateful,  and  have  not  the  magna- 
nimity to  remember,  or  reward  t heir  meritorious  citizens,  and  pointed  to  this  lamentable 
instance  of  its  early  truth  ;  let  us  who  are  assembled  this  evening,  by  one  united  and  sponta- 
neous expression,  by  the  resolutions  we  adopt,  be  able  each,  to  reply  to  the  charge  witli 
heartfelt  sincerity,  and  say,  "  Thou  canst  not  say  I  did  it." 

On  Saturday,  the  committee  appointed  by  the  meeting  of  citizens  of  this  city,  waited  per- 
sonally upon  Mr.  Clinton,  when  Mr.  James,  the  chairman,  presented  the  following  address  : 

To  the  Hon.  De  Witt  CI  in/on. 

Albany,  April  17,  1824. 
Sir, — The  late  resolution  of  the  legislature,  which  has  terminated  your  honourable  labours 
as  president  of  the  board  of  canal  commissioners,  and  deprived  our  state  of  your  invaluable 
services  hereafter,  has  awakened,  among  all  honourable  men,  feelings  of  the  liveliest  indig- 
nation. It  could  not  have  been  expected  in  this  enlightened  age,  so  fruitful  in  improvements 
which  tend  to  advance  the  comforts  and  add  dignity  to  the  character  of  man,  that  the  legis- 
lature of  an  intelligent  republic  would  have  rewarded  fourteen  years  of  successful  and 


468 


APPENDIX. 


disinterested  efforts  in  promoting  the  prosperity  and  glory  of  the  state,  by  this  act  of  most 
base  ingratitude. 

Deeply  sensible  of  the  stain  which  this  unworthy  measure  has  affixed  on  the  character  of 
this  state,  and  animated  with  the  warmest  sentiments  of  gratitude  towards  you  as  a  distin- 
guished public  benefactor,  the  citizens  of  Albany  have  directed  us,  as  their  committee,  to 
express  to  you  their  feelings  on  this  occasion. 

To  you  personally,  the  termination  of  your  official  duties  can  be  of  little  moment,  for  in- 
justice and  ingratitude  will  in  vain  assail  that  reputation,  whose  noble  and  elevated  struc- 
ture rests  on  the  broad  foundation  of  a  nation's  prosperity.  You  have  laboured  long  enough 
for  your  own  glory,  but  far  too  short  a  time  for  your  country. 

If  any  circumstance  could  alleviate  our  regrets,  in  the  loss  of  services  so  important  to  the 
honour  and  welfare  of  the  state,  we  should  derive  it  from  the  hope,  that  the  inspiration  of 
your  genius  may  continue  to  animate  your  fellow -citizens  to  a  full  completion  of  the  magnifi- 
cent works  which  you  have  planned. 

In  behalf  of  the  numerous  meetings  of  our  fellow- citizens,  which  we  have  the  honour  to 
represent,  we  tender  to  you  our  warmest  thanks  and  liveliest  sentiments  of  gratitude  ;  for 
those  invaluable  services  have  justly  acquired  for  you,  the  appellation  of  the  "  disinterested 
benefactor  of  the  state  of  New- York." 

Accept  from  us,  individually,  assurances  of  our  great  personal  respect  and  esteem. 

Signed,  William  James,  J.  II.  Wendell,  Isaiah  Towns'end,  John  Taylor,  Elisha  Jenkins, 
Gideon  Ilawley,  Joseph  Alexander,  Israel  Smith,  E.  Baldwin,  Chandler  Starr,  Samuel  M. 
Hopkins,  Philip  S.  Parker,  John  Cassidy,  Jabez  D.  Hammond,  A.  Conkling,  James  M'Kown 
J.  Waterman,  Teunis  Van  Vechten. 

To  the  address  presented  by  the  committee,  the  following  reply  was  made  by  Governor 
Clinton  :  — 

To  the  committee  of  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Albany,  of  which  John  Tayler,  Esq. 
was  chairman,  and  John  II.  Wendell,  Esq.  Secretary. 

Gentlemen — As  the  good  opinion  of  virtuous  and  enlightened  men  has  always  been  an 
object  of  peculiar  solicitude  to  me,  I  cannot  sufficiently  express  the  gratification  which  I 
derive  from  your  communication.  From  the  inhabitants  of  this  city  I  have  ever  experienced 
the  most  friendly  treatment,  and  in  the  course  of  my  residence  among  them,  they  have  seen 
me  in  public  and  private  life,  and  have  witnessed  my  efforts  in  favour  of  the  navigable  com- 
munications between  our  inland  seas  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  At  a  meeting  unprecedented 
for  its  number  and  respectability,  they  have  unanimously  honoured  me  with  an  expression  of 
their  approbation ;  and  what  has  greatly  increased  my  satisfaction  on  this  occasion,  is,  the 
leading  participation  of  two  of  the  surviving  patriots  of  the  revolution — of  that  illustrious 
band  of  statesmen  and  soldiers  which  conducted  our  country  to  glory,  to  liberty  and  to 


APPENDIX. 


469 


independence.  The  eyes  of  these  worthy  and  honourable  men  are  now  emphatically  fixed 
on  eternity,  and  their  opinions  on  the  concerns  of  this  world  must  be  as  impressive  as  they 
are  disinterested. 

With  respect  to  the  character  of  the  transaction  of  which  you  speak,  I  shall  be  silent.  I 
shall  willingly  leave  it  to  the  decision  of  our  country,  and  to  the  judgment  of  posterity.  I 
can  certainly  entertain  no  resentments  against  the  agents.  If  this  event  shall  transmit  their 
names  to  future  times,  they  must  pass  the  ordeal  of  the  same  high  and  impartial  tribunals, 
and  their  conduct  must  receive  its  proper  estimation.  But  I  owe  it  to  myself  and  to  you,  to 
my  family,  to  my  friends,  and  to  my  country,  to  declare  that  I  invite  the  most  rigid  scrutiny 
into  my  official  conduct.  The  same  legislature  will  again  assemble,  and  I  shall  then  be  as 
willing  to  encounter  the  full  exercise  of  their  inquisitorial  authority,  as  I  now  am  to  sustain 
the  whole  weight  of  their  implacable  hostility. 

I  tender  to  you,  gentlemen,  and  to  my  fellow-citizens  whom  you  represent,  my  sincere 
thanks.  The  most  powerful  incentive  to  good  actions,  is  the  favourable  notice  of  those  who 
perform  them.  And  I  shall  spare  no  exertions  to  merit  the  continuance  of  that  good  will 
and  good  opinion  which  you  have  this  day  manifested,  and  which  I  rank  among  the  most 
felicitous  events  of  my  life. 

DE  WITT  CLINTON. 

Albany,  April  17th,  1824. 


[From  the  Evening  Post,  April  20th,  1824.] 
Great  Meeting  in  the  Park: 

Yesterday,  at  5  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  in  conformity  to  a  previous  general  notice,  the 
citizens  of  our  metropolis,  to  the  number  of  many  thousands,  embracing  all  classes  and  all 
political  parties,  assembled  in  the  park,  in  front  of  the  City  Hall.  The  object  of  the  meeting 
was  to  stigmatise  the  resolution  of  the  senate  and  assembly,  which  removed  De  Witt  Clin- 
ton, as  canal  commissioner,  and  caused  his  consequent  removal  as  president  of  the  board  ; 
and,  also,  to  return  him  thanks  for  his  long,  able,  and  gratuitous  services  in  the  prosecution 
of  the  New- York  canals.  Such  a  meeting,  take  it  all  in  all,  has  never  taken  place  in  this 
metropolis.  From  all  we  can  learn,  the  number  who  assembled  must  have  been  from  eight 
to  ten  thousand. 

General  Bogardus  nominated  the  late  venerable  William  Few  to  the  chair.  As  the  hoary- 
headed  patriot  took  his  seat  on  the  table  or  platform,  the  assemblage  gave  three  cheers. 
John  Rathbone,jun.  Esq,  was  then  called  on  to  act  as  secretary  by  a  unanimous  vote.  The 
meeting  being  organised,  a  call  was  made  from  all  quarters  for  Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  who 
had  agreed  to  address  the  meeting.  It  having  been  ascertained  that  he  was  detained  in  court 
unexpectedly— he  being  in  the  middle  of  an  important  trial,  Charles  G.  Haines,  Esq.  arose 

57 


470 


APPENDIX. 


and  opened  the  meeting.  He  said  that  it  was  called  independent  of  all  party  or  political 
grounds.  It  was  called  to  do  an  act  of  justice  to  a  great  and  an  injured  man.  It  was  called 
to  enter  its  solemn  protest  against  a  legislative  act  that  would  be  condemned  by  the  state  of 
New- York,  and  reprehended  by  the  nation  ;  for  it  was  an  ungenerous,  unnecessary,  and 
abortive  attempt  to  separate  De  Witt  Clinton  from  a  great  national  work. 

Mr.  Haines  said  that  he  did  not  rise  to  prove  De  Witt  Clinton  the  father  of  the  New- York 
canals.  They  were  magnificent  public  works  which  the  state  had  made,  and  which  belonged 
to  the  state.  Mr.  Clinton  had  toiled  with  other  faithful  and  distinguished  men,  and  the  ex- 
tent of  his  agency  in  their  origin,  advancement,  and  near  completion,  was  a  matter  well  set- 
tled in  public  opinion,  and  it  was  in  vain  to  make  efforts  to  change  that  opinion.  His  fame 
would  be  the  subject  of  rigid  and  impartial  history,  and  to  history  he  was  willing  to  leave  it. 
The  benefactors  of  states  and  empires  could  not  be  hidden  from  the  world.  The  spirit  of 
the  age  and  the  light  of  truth  were  with  them.  Combinations  might  arise  to  obscure  the 
lustre  of  their  acts,  and  diminish  the  magnitude  and  utility  of  their  efforts ;  but  the  calm 
conviction  of  after  times  would  do  them  justice. 

The  New- York  canals,  he  said,  were  nearly  completed.  The  Hudson  and  Lake  Champlain 
were  united ;  and  in  a  few  months  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  would  mingle  with  those 
of  our  inland  seas.  In  grandeur  and  usefulness,  these  were  the  first  works  of  the  present 
age,  whether  we  look  to  this  or  to  the  other  side  of  the  ocean.  Already  we  begin  to  feel  their 
vast  influence,  as  it  strengthens  the  union  of  the  east  and  the  west,  reaches  the  relations  of 
interest,  trade  and  exchange — animating  industry  and  enterprise,  and  facilitating  the  rapid 
circulation  of  capital — as  it  gives  new  life  and  vigour  to  agriculture  and  manufactures,  un- 
folds the  resources  of  the  state  in  ten  thousand  ways ;  bringing  to  hex  waters  the  trade  of 
the  western  world,  and  rendering  her  commercial  capital,  the  city  of  New- York,  the  grand 
emporium  of  the  western  continent.  No  wonder  all  Europe  was  astonished  at  the  boldness 
of  the  state  which  undertakes,  and  is  rapidly  finishing,  such  works. 

But  there  was  a  day  of  unbelief  in  the  land ;  a  day,  when  not  only  the  uncandid  and  the 
selfish,  but  when  many  of  the  purest  and  most  enlightened  among  us,  doubted  as  to  these 
works.  Public  opinion  was  undecided.  Some  master-spirit  was  wanted  to  draw  this  opinion 
from  beaten  paths,  and  conduct  it  to  new  and  bold  conclusions.  Some  pioneer  was  required 
to  inspire  the  ardent,  to  lead  on  the  timid,  and  to  persuade  the  wavering.  Who  was  the 
man?  Who  stood  forth  as  the  triumphant  advocate  of  the  Great  Western  Canal?  Who 
stood  foremost  in  convincing  this  community  of  the  extent  of  her  own  resources?  Who 
devoted  toilsome  days  and  sleepless  nights  to  demonstrate,  by  every  argument,  the  prac- 
ticability and  advantages  of  the  Great  Western  Canal?  Who  placed  in  jeopardy  his 
hold  on  public  confidence  and  respect  ?  Who  aided  in  exploring  the  route  of  this  grand  chan- 
nel of  trade  and  intercourse  ?  Who,  after  he  became  the  chief  magistrate  of  this  state, 
identified  his  administration  with  this  work,  and  risked  its  duration  on  the  success  of  the 


APPENDIX. 


171 


project?  Who  aided  in  obtaining  loans  for  its  advancement?  Who  had  traversed  the  6tate 
for  years  to  watch  over  its  progress  ?  Who  for  nearly  ten  years  had  presided  over  the  hoard 
of  canal  commissioners?  Who  had  waded  through  streams  and  torrents  of  ridicule,  calumny 
and  insult,  in  the  prosecution  of  this  canal  ?  Who,  throughout  the  American  union,  and  who, 
on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean,  was  connected  as  a  leading  and  efficient  personage  in  this 
splendid  work?  Need  any  man  stand  here  and  pause  like  Brutus  among  the  Romans,  for  a 
reply?  De  Will  Clinton  is  the  man !  Every  tongue  utters  his  name  ;  every  heart  bears  tes- 
timony to  his  services. 

And  what  was  Mr.  Clinton's  reward  ?  Had  his  long,  unwearied,  and  persevering  efforts 
covered  him  with  the  titles  and  honours  of  public  office  ?  Had  he  put  his  hand  into  the  public 
treasury  and  amassed  wealth  and  fortune  ?  Was  he  the  proprietor  of  palaces,  and  had  he 
bought  over  men  to  his  purposes?  Had  he  purchased  power  and  popularity  with  the  public  funds  ? 
Had  he  advanced  his  family  to  posts  of  honour  and  profit  ?  No  ;  for  fourteen  years,  De  Witt 
Clinton  had  devoted  his  time,  his  thoughts,  and  his  labour,  to  the  New-York  Canals,  without 
receiving  a  single  farthing  in  the  shape  of  salary,  or  a  solitary  cent  of  pecuniary  profit.  And 
sincerely  did  he  wish  that  this  were  the  only  return.  But,  Mr.  H.  said  he  must  go  further  : 
without  the  semblance  of  reason ;  without  an  attempt  to  render  an  excuse  ;  without  an  effort 
to  apologise  to  the  people  of  this  state,  and  without  the  faintest  colour  of  necessity,  a  party  in 
the  legislature  had  passed  a  vote  that  has  removed  De  Witt  Clinton  from  the  merely  honorary 
office  of  canal  commissioner,  and  president  of  the  board  of  canal  commissioners ;  offices  to  him 
destitute  of  salary  and  recompense.  To  reward  a  most  able,  faithful,  and  distinguished  states- 
man for  past  labours,  sacrifices,  and  anxiety,  it  had  been  resolved  by  a  political  party,  that 
the  state  of  New-York  could  no  longer  afford  to  be  benefited  by  his  experience,  his  talents, 
his  information,  and  his  integrity,  though  conferred  without  reward  and  without  public 
honours.  In  a  moment  of  hurry  and  confusion,  before  the  mind  could  have  time  to  reflect  on 
the  lasting  disgrace  of  the  act ;  at  a  moment  when  calm  and  temperate  discussion  was  pre- 
cluded, and  the  close  of  the  session  was  at  hand,  a  sudden  and  pre-concerted  appeal  is  made 
to  party  feeling  and  party  discipline,  and  without  the  assignment  of  a  single  reason,  a  long 
tried,  faithful  and  most  able  public  servant,  eminent  for  his  abilities  and  integrity,  and  wrap- 
ped up  in  the  pride  and  glory  of  this  state,  and  labouring  with  unabating  and  unceasing  zeal 
for  her  lasting  prosperity  and  happiness,  is  hurled  from  office,  as  though  he  was  some  great 
state  culprit  who  had  disgraced  the  ermine,  or  received  bribes  in  the  senate  room,  or  be- 
trayed the  armies  of  the  republic,  dipped  his  hands  in  treason,  or  sold  his  country  for  gold! 
For  the  last  ten  years,  our  state  had  been  convulsed  by  party  violence  of  the  blackest  type. 

He  spoke  of  no  particular  party  or  body  of  men :  all  had  more  or  less  participated  in  the 
temperament  of  the  times.  Great  men  had  been  hunted  down,  and  talents  been  driven  to  the 
shades  of  domestic  life.  Even  our  social  relations  had  been  invaded  and  disturbed,  and  an- 
cient friends  been  torn  asunder,  and  ancient  enemies  united.    Mr.  Burke's  description  of  a 


472 


APPENDIX. 


party-coloured  administration,  when  men  of  different  politics  were  huddled  into  a  room 
without  knowing  each  other,  to  fight  under  the  same  standard,  had  been  realized.  A  legis- 
lative majority  had  been  opposed  to  Mr.  Clinton.  While  he  was  Governor,  he  was  for  two 
years  with  a  legislative  minority.  As  president  of  the  board  of  canal  commissioners,  he  had 
been  in  a  minority,  politically  speaking,  for  years  past.  The  tide  of  party  had  overwhelmed 
him  for  a  time,  and  all  the  zeal,  and  all  the  efforts  had  appeared  against  him,  incident  to 
violent  political  contests. 

But  whoever  thought  of  proscribing  De  Witt  Clinton  as  a  canal  commissioner,  or  as  pre- 
sident of  the  canal  board  ?  Who  had  had  the  hardihood  to  suggest  it  ?  A  sense  of  public  de- 
corum seems  to  have  repressed  the  very  idea  of  such  a  step.  No  !  it  had  been  left  to  a  time 
when  he  was  in  no  way  before  the  public ;  when  he  was  not  a  candidate  for  any  office  or 
trust;  when  he  had  retired  from  the  political  field,  and  was  bending  all  the  energies  of  his 
powerful  and  comprehensive  mind  to  consummate  the  Union  of  Lake  Eric  with  the  ocean ; 
when  he  was  looked  up  to  by  all  the  states  in  the  union  where  internal  improvements  were 
prosecuted,  and  when  he  was  diffusing  the  light  of  his  experience,  and  communicating  the 
tone  of  his  enterprise  to  every  section  of  the  country ;  it  was  at  such  a  moment  that  a  body  of 
politicians  in  the  Capitol  at  Albany,  against  the  wishes  of  a  million  and  a  half  of  people, 
whom  they  pretended  to  represent,  had  combined  to  sweep  him  from  an  honorary  post,  with- 
out daring  to  tell  why  ;  without  daring  to  attempt  a  palliation. 

For  the  honour  of  our  state,  and  for  the  honour  of  our  common  country,  he  was  proud  to 
say,  that  it  was  an  act  without  a  parallel ;  and  he  had  the  satisfaction  to  believe,  that  it  would 
remain  a  solitary  instance  of  ingratitude  in  the  long  annals  of  this  country,  and  draw  after  it 
to  the  end  of  time,  the  deep  abhorrence  of  every  generous,  every  liberal,  and  every  virtuous 
mind.  Could  George  Clinton  and  Alexander  Hamilton  this  moment  stand  among  us,  and 
see  facts  as  they  are  ;  could  they  be  carried  back  to  the  day  when  those  stupendous  plans 
of  improvement  that  adorned  the  age,  were  denounced  as  the  offspring  of  folly  and  ambition ; 
could  their  minds  be  carried  forward  to  the  day  when  these  works  will  go  far  to  revolution- 
ise the  internal  relations  of  a  great  portion  of  this  country,  and  pour  a  broad  and  perpetual 
stream  of  wealth  into  the  state  of  New- York  ;  and  then,  could  their  eyes  be  directed  to  the 
resolution  of  the  12th  of  April,  1824,  by  which  De  Witt  Clinton  was  removed  from  the  office 
of  canal  commissioner,  and  president  of  the  board  of  commissioners,  after  fourteen  years  of 
faithful  and  gratuitous  service,  and  that  too  without  a  solitary  complaint  or  a  solitary  reason, 
how  would  their  great  souls  swell  with  manly  indignation,  and  how  would  they  mourn  over 
the  hour  when  the  voice  of  justice  was  unheeded,  and  state  pride  forgotten  ! 

Mr.  Haines  said  that  it  was  to  condemn  such  an  act  that  the  present  meeting  was  called. 
And  if  there  had  ever  been  a  day  when  he  gloried  in  the  institutions  of  the  country,  and  felt 
the  force  of  principle  that  they  contained  in  themselves  a  self-preserving  spirit,  it  was  at  that 
moment.    The  character  of  the  state  of  New- York  had  been  degraded,  and  a  stain  brought 


APPENDIX. 


473 


upon  her  reputation.  He  beheld  the  people  rising  in  their  constitutional  strength,  and  in 
language  temperate,  firm,  and  dignified,  putting  forth  a  declaration  to  the  world,  indica- 
tive of  that  intelligence,  that  love  of  truth  and  justice,  that  sense  of  right  and  wrong,  and 
that  pride  and  independence  of  character,  that  proved  the  safeguard  of  all  republican 
governments.  While  the  people  cherished  such  feelings  and  such  sentiments,  republican 
principles  could  never  perish. 

Well  might  the  people  ask — What  are  we  to  have  next?  Was  any  thing  to  excite  as- 
tonishment ?  Was  any  transaction  in  our  state  politics  to  create  surprise  ?  Would  it  be 
strange  if  there  was  a  proposition  to  abandon  the  Great  Western  Canal  as  an  expensive 
and  impracticable  undertaking  ?  This  might  indeed  be  called  the  day  of  party  presumption  ; 
for  it  was  the  fashion  to  talk  about  the  people,  and  insult  the  people  to  their  faces.  Did  men 
expect  that  the  press  would  slumber?  Did  they  expect  to  banish  light  and  motion?  Did 
they  expect  to  avoid  a  day  of  retribution  ?  That  day  was  at  hand.  The  proceedings  of 
that  meeting  would  be  echoed  from  the  shores  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  the  lakes  to  the 
north  of  the  Hudson.  They  would  reach,  and  they  would  rouse,  every  city,  every  town,  and 
every  village  in  the  state.  In  one  week,  a  million  of  people  would  reciprocate  every  senti- 
ment which  they  breathed.  They  would  traverse  the  Union,  and  serve  to  convince  the 
Union,  that  although  a  great  man  may  become  the  victim  of  a  petty  act  of  party  vengeance, 
yet  that  the  state  disavows  that  act,  and  that  his  talents,  his  brilliant  services,  his  vast  and 
comprehensive  views,  and  his  undaunted  perseverance,  united  to  integrity,  and  blended  with 
a  course  of  private  life  that  was  destitute  of  a  stain  or  a  "blemish,  have  gathered  round  him 
the  confidence,  the  admiration,  and  the  sympathies  of  a  grateful  people,  without  party  names 
or  distinctions  ! 

One  word  more,  said  Mr.  Haines,  and  he  had  done.  An  attempt  had  been  made  to  deprive 
De  Witt  Clinton  of  that  praise  and  renown  which  candour  and  justice  allow  him  for  his 
agency  in  the  origin  and  prosecution  of  the  New-York  Canals.  Mr.  Haines  appealed  to 
the  remembrance  of  the  meeting.  Suppose  the  Great  Western  Canal  had  been  abandoned 
six  years  ago,  as  a  visionary  scheme  of  idle  ambition — an  impracticable  and  ruinous  under- 
taking— all  the  laws  had  been  repealed,  and  universal  odium  covered  the  project.  Who  then 
would  have  been  swept  from  the  face  of  the  political  world  ?  Who  would  then  have  been 
driven  to  the  dreary  refuge  of  an  ignominious  private  life,  with  the  execrations  of  an  enraged 
people  pressing  on  his  retreating  steps?  Whose  name  would  have  been  synonymous  with 
disgrace,  scorn,  and  derision  ?  Dc  Witt  Clinton  would  have  been  the  man  !  But  his  stu- 
pendous views  had  been  realised.  The  blaze  of  noon-day  splendour  encircled  his  plans, 
and  it  was  not  now  to  be  extinguished  by  opening  the  fountains  of  public  ingratitude. 

In  conclusion,  he  submitted  the  propriety  of  adopting  such  resolutions  as  would  condemn 
in  strong  and  dignified  language  the  removal  of  De  Witt  Clinton  as  canal  commissioner,  and 
his  subsequent  removal  as  president  of  the  board  of  canal  commissioners,  and  such  as  would 


474 


APPENDIX. 


express  a  deep  sense  of  gratitude  for  fourteen  years  of  distinguished  and  successful  public 
services  for  the  interest  and  prosperity  of  the  state  of  New- York,  without  reward  or  remu- 
neration. 

This  speech  was  received  with  feelings  highly  honourable  to  the  city,  accompanied  with 
loud  and  general  applause. 

Isaac  S.  Hone,  Esq.  then  arose,  and  after  a  few  prefatory  remarks,  which  were  peculiarly 
pertinent  to  the  subject,  and  which  were  received  with  universal  approbation,  he  submitted 
the  following  resolutions  for  the  adoption  of  the  meeting.  They  were  read,  and  adopted  by 
acclamation.  Thousands  of  voices  proclaimed  the  unanimity  which  was  felt,  and  when  the 
noes  were  called,  a  dead  silence — a  deep  pause  ensued. 

RESOLUTIONS. 

Resolved — That  we  consider  the  removal  of  De  Witt  Clinton  as  Canal  Commissioner, 
and  his  subsequent  removal  as  President  of  the  Board  of  Canal  Commissioners,  by  the  late 
joint  resolution  of  the  Senate  and  Assembly  of  the  state  of  New-York,  as  an  act  degrading 
to  the  character  of  the  state,  a  violation  of  justice,  and  an  outrage  on  public  opinion. 

Resolved — That  considering  the  exalted  talents,  the  enlightened  views,  and  the  great  ex- 
perience of  De  Witt  Clinton,  we  consider  his  removal  from  office  as  a  serious  injury  to  the 
highest  interests  of  the  state — since  in  the  completion  of  the  Grand  Western  Canal,  his 
knowledge,  his  counsel,  and  his  personal  superintendence  would  have  proved  eminently 
useful. 

Resolved — That  in  the  origin,  advancement,  and  near  completion  of  the  New- York  Ca- 
nals, De  Witt  Clinton  -has  displayed  uncommon  talents,  great  forecast,  and  undeviating 
integrity,  and  that  his  labours  and  sacrifices  have  contributed  to  the  lasting  glory  and  pros- 
perity of  the  state. 

Resolved — That  we  consider  De  Witt  Clinton  pre-eminently  useful  to  the  age  in  which 
he  lives,  and  that  for  fourteen  years  public  service  in  the  prosecution  of  the  Grand  Western 
and  Northern  Canals,  without  salary  or  reward,  he  is  richly  entitled  to  the  gratitude  of  the 
people  of  the  state  of  New-York — to  the  gratitude  of  the  nation  at  large,  since  they  are 
national  works — and  to  the  gratitude  of  posterity,  since  they  benefit  all  future  generations. 

Resolved — That  the  resolution  by  which  De  Witt  Clinton  has  been  removed  from  the 
office  of  Canal  Commissioner,  and  President  of  the  Board  of  Canal  Commissioners,  has  in 
no  way  diminished  our  confidence  in  his  capacity  and  integrity,  nor  lessened  our  respect  for 
his  public  and  private  life. 

Resolved — That  we  consider  the  removal  of  De  Witt  Ciinton,  a  subject  of  general  inte- 
rest and  regret,  and  that  we  hope  to  see  the  feelings  and  sentiments  expressed  by  this  meet- 
ing, reciprocated  by  every  city,  town,  and  village  in  the  state. 

Resolved — That  James  Benedict,  John  Morss,  and  David  Seaman,  three  members  of  the 


APPENDIX. 


475 


New- York  delegation,  and  the  several  members  of  the  Senate  and  Assembly,  who  had  the 
firmness  and  independence  to  discharge  their  duty  in  voting  against  the  removal  of  De  Witt 
Clinton,  deserve  the  thanks  of  this  meeting  and  the  thanks  of  this  whole  community. 

Resolved — That  a  committee  of  thirty  be  appointed  to  communicate  the  proceedings  of 
this  meeting  to  De  Witt  Clinton,  and  to  give  them  publicity  throughout  the  state  of  New- 
York,  after  they  are  signed  by  the  chairman  and  secretary. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  the  committee. 


Matthew  Clarkson,  Joseph  G.  Swift, 

William  Bayard,  Philip  Hone, 

Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  Robert  H.  Bowne, 

Nicholas  Fish,  John  Ratiibone,  jun. 

Charles  Wright,  Abraham  Ogden, 

Thomas  Hazard,  jun.  Lockwood  De  Forrest, 

Thomas  Eddy,  James  Oakley, 

Cadwallader  D.  Colde.n,  Mansel  Bradhurst, 

James  Lovett,  Benjamin  Stagg, 

Robert  Bogardus,  Thomas  Gibbons, 

Preserved  Fish,  Eli  Hart, 

Thomas  Freeborn,  Noah  Brown, 

Peter  Crary,  Stephen  Whitney, 

Lynde  Catlin,  Thomas  Herttell, 

Campbell  P.  White. 

W.  FEW,  Chairman. 

John  Rathbone,  Secretary. 

The  proceedings  being  finished,  the  venerable  chairman  stood  up  in  the  midst  of  his  fellow- 
citizens,  and  adjourned  the  meeting.  The  assemblage  gave  nine  cheers,  and  peaceably  re- 
turned to  their  homes.  In  a  few  moments,  out  of  eight  or  ten  thousand  people,  scarcely  a  man 
was  to  be  seen. 

Thus  was  sent  forth  to  the  state  and  to  the  nation,  one  of  the  most  solemn,  temperate, 
and  dignified  expressions  of  public  sentiment  ever  recorded  in  this  country.  New-York  has 
nobly  done  her  duty.  The  commercial  metropolis  of  our  state  has  raised  her  voice,  and  it 
will  be  heard  over  the  Union.  She  has  discarded  party  feelings,  and  paid  a  becoming  tri- 
bute of  respect  to  De  Witt  Clinton  for  his  extensive  agency  in  the  grandest  public  works  of 
the  age — works  which  will  pour  wealth  into  our  city,  and  lay  open  the  resources  and  contri- 
bute to  the  lasting  glory  and  happiness  of  the  state. 


476 


APPENDIX. 


Address  of  the  Committee  to  Mr.  Clinton,  and  his  Answer. 
To  the  Hon.  De  Witt  Clinton. 

Sir, — We,  the  undersigned,  are  a  committee  appointed  to  transmit  to  you  the  enclosed 
resolutions,  which  were  unanimously  passed  by  one  of  the  most  numerous  and  respectable 
assemblages  of  citizens,  ever  convened  in  the  city  of  New-York.  We  hope  the  sentiments 
expressed  in  these  resolutions,  will  convince  you,  that  the  late  act  of  the  Senate  and  Assem- 
bly, to  which  they  refer,  is  considered  as  an  unjust,  illiberal,  wanton,  and  ungrateful  mea- 
sure :  and  that  a  few  violent  party  politicians,  cannot  by  any  abuse  of  power,  take  from  you 
that  respect,  esteem,  and  gratitude,  which  are  due  to  your  character  and  public  services. 

This  will  be  presented  to  you  by  Messrs.  C.  D.  Colden,  Thomas  Hazard,  jun.  Philip 
Hone,  Lockwood  De  Forest,  and  Thomas  Herttell,  who  have  been  deputed  by  us  for  that 
purpose. 

We  have  the  honour  to  be.  Sir,  with  the  highest  respect, 

Your  obedient  servants, 
William  Bayard,  Lynde  Catlin, 

Peter  Crary,  James  Oakley, 

Thomas  Herttell,  Lockwood  De  Forest, 

Stephen  Whitney,  Robert  H.  Bowne, 

Joseph  G.  Swift,  Eli  Hart, 

Cadwallader  D.  Colden,  Abraham  Ogden, 
Thomas  Addis  Emmet,      Nicholas  Fish, 
Philip  Hone,  Thomas  Freeborn, 

Robert  Bogardcs,  Preserved  Fish, 

Charles  Wright,  J.  M.  Bradhurst, 

Thomas  Eddy,  Thomas  Hazard,  jr. 

Thomas  Gibbons,  Noah  Brown, 

James  Lovett. 

To  the  committee  of  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  New- York,  of  which  William  Few,  Esq. 
was  chairman,  and  John  Rathbone,  Esq.  secretary. 

Gentlemen— I  know  of  no  event  that  has  a  more  powerful  demand  on  my  gratitude  than 
the  proceedings  of  the  citizens  of  New- York,  respecting  my  agency  in  the  navigable  com- 
munications between  our  Mediterranean  seas  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  The  approbation  of 
a  meeting  so  numerous  and  respectable,  conveyed  through  a  channel  so  virtuous  and  en- 
lightened, is  a  reward  that  ought  to  satisfy  the  most  aspiring  ambition. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  year  1816,  a  few  individuals  held  a  consultation  in  the  city 
of  New-York,  for  the  purpose  of  calling  the  public  attention  to  the  contemplated  western 
and  northern  canals.     The  difficulties  to  be  surmounted  were  of  the  most  formidable 


APPENDIX. 


477 


aspect.  The  state,  in  consequence  of  her  patriotic  exertions  during  the  war,  was  consider- 
ably embarrassed  in  her  finances;  a  current  of  hostility  had  set  in  against  the  project;  and 
the  preliminary  measures,  however  well  intended,  ably  devised,  or  faithfully  executed,  had 
unfortunately  increased,  instead  of  allaying  prejudice  ;  and  such  was  the  weight  of  these, 
and  other  considerations,  that  the  plan  was  generally  viewed  as  abandoned.  Experience 
evinces  that  it  is  much  easier  to  originate  a  measure  successfully,  than  it  is  to  revive  one 
which  has  been  already  unfavourably  received.  Notwithstanding  these  appalling  obstacles, 
which  were  duly  considered,  a  public  meeting  was  called  of  which  William  Bayard  was 
chairman,  and  John  Pintard  secretary  ;  a  memorial  in  favour  of  the  canal  policy  was  read 
and  approved,  and  a  correspondent  spirit  was  excited  through  the  community,  which  induced 
the  legislature  to  pass  a  law  authorising  surveys  and  examinations.  And  let  me,  on  this 
occasion,  discharge  a  debt  of  gratitude  and  of  justice  to  the  late  Robert  Bowne.  He  is 
now  elevated  above  human  panegyric,  and  reposes,  I  humbly  and  fervently  believe,  in  the 
bosom  of  his  God.  He  had  at  an  early  period,  devoted  his  attention  to  this  subject,  and  was 
master  of  all  its  important  bearings.  To  his  wise  counsels,  intelligent  views,  and  patriotic 
exertions,  we  were  under  incalculable  obligations.  I  never  left  the  society  of  this  excellent 
and  venerable  man  without  feeling  the  most  powerful  inducements  for  the  most  animated 
efforts. 

The  proceedings  under  the  act  of  1016,  presented  such  conclusive  testimonials  in  favour 
of  the  proposed  canals,  that  a  law  was  enacted  authorising  their  commencement,  but  not 
without  the  most  decided  opposition.  I  am  aware  that  some  of  the  most  pure  and  intelli- 
gent men  in  the  community  were  unfriendly  to  the  prosecution  of  a  measure  which  appeared 
to  them  either  impracticable  in  attainment,  or  overwhelming  in  expense;  but  it  must  cer- 
tainly be  considered  an  extraordinary  feature  in  our  history,  that  the  representatives  of 
your  city,  the  place  most  benefited  by  the  canals,  should  take  the  lead  in  hostility.  This 
fact  is  not  mentioned  in  the  way  of  reproach,  but  to  show  the  difficulties  which  environed 
the  measure  in  every  step  of  its  progress. 

After  my  election  to  the  chair  of  state,  I  found  that  the  opposition  to  the  canal  was  min- 
gled with  the  agitations  of  the  times,  and  that  its  destinies  were  to  a  certain  extent  identi- 
fied with  my  official  position.  At  this  crisis,  I  was  induced  to  continue  in  my  station  as  a 
canal  commissioner,  from  a  persuasion  that  my  retirement  might  be  considered  an  abandon- 
ment; and  from  a  conviction  that  I  could  render  more  essential  benefit  to  the  undertaking 
by  remaining  at  my  post,  and  encountering  all  the  obloquy,  resentments,  and  misrepresen- 
tations, which  at  that  period  were  so  strongly  indicated  :  And  1  had  finally  the  satisfaction 
to  see  that  the  successful  progress  of  the  work  had  dispelled  the  doubts  of  its  well-meaning 
opponents,  and  silenced  the  clamours  of  its  enemies  of  a  different  description. 

From  the  extinguishment  of  open  hostility,  to  the  present  period,  I  have  not  been  with- 
out serious  apprehensions,  that  events  might  occur  to  prevent  the  consummation  of  this 

58 


478 


APPENDIX. 


work  ;  and  I  have  rejoiced  at  the  termination  of  each  year  of  its  progress,  and  watched 
over  it  with  indescribable  anxiety.  Although  I  have  no  reason  to  suspect  the  fidelity  of 
the  agents  entrusted  with  the  disbursements  of  the  public  monies,  yet  I  was  sensible  that 
any  loss  by  accident,  or  any  misapplication  by  design,  might  prove  fatal.  And  I  was  at  all 
times  aware,  that  the  intervention  of  a  foreign  war  might  prevent  the  necessary  loans,  and 
that  the  national  government,  without  any  hostile  design,  might,  by  repealing  and  imposing 
certain  duties,  inflict  an  irreparable  injury  on  our  financial  arrangements. 

On  the  4th  of  July,  1817,  the  work  was  commenced.  The  Champlain  and  the  greater 
part  of  the  Erie  Canal  are  now  in  a  navigable  state,  and  in  less  than  a  year  the  whole,  com- 
prising an  extent  of  about  four  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles,  will  be  finished.  Every  year's 
experience  will  enhance  the  results  in  the  public  estimation,  and  benefits  will  be  unfolded 
which  we  can  now  hardly  venture  to  anticipate.  As  a  bond  of  union  between  the  Atlantic 
and  the  western  states,  it  may  prevent  the  dismemberment  of  the  American  empire.  As 
an  organ  of  communication  between  the  Hudson,  the  Mississippi,  the  St.  Lawrence,  the 
great  lakes  of  the  north  and  west,  and  their  tributary  rivers,  it  will  create  the  greatest  in- 
land trade  ever  witnessed.  The  most  fertile  and  extensive  regions  of  America  will  avail 
themselves  of  its  facilities  for  a  market.  All  their  surplus  productions,  whether  of  the  soil, 
the  forest,  the  mines,  or  the  waters,  their  fabrics  of  art  and  their  supplies  of  foreign  commo- 
dities, will  concentrate  in  the  city  of  New- York,  for  transportation  abroad  or  consumption 
at  home.  Agriculture,  manufactures,  commerce,  trade,  navigation,  and  the  arts  will  receive 
a  correspondent  encouragement.  That  city  will  in  the  course  of  time  become  the  granary 
of  the  world,  the  emporium  of  commerce,  the  seat  of  manufactures,  the  focus  of  great 
monied  operations,  and  the  concentrating  point  of  vast,  disposable,  and  accumulating  capi- 
tals, which  will  stimulate,  enliven,  extend,  and  reward  the  exertions  of  human  labour  and 
ingenuity,  in  all  their  processes  and  exhibitions;  and,  before  the  revolution  of  a  century, 
the  whole  island  of  Manhattan,  covered  with  habitations  and  replenished  with  a  dense  popu- 
lation, will  constitute  one  vast  city. 

I  have  furnished  this  summary  view  of  the  subject,  not  in  a  spirit  of  egotism,  a  tone  of 
assumption,  or  with  any  pretensions  to  exclusive  merit.  I  have  done  all  that  I  could  do. — 
And  the  agency  of  many  meritorious  and  distinguished  men,  in  preparing  the  public  mind 
to  favour,  and  inducing  the  legislature  to  adopt  the  project — in  exploring  and  examining  the 
country — in  undertaking  the  responsibilities  of  superintendence  and  engineering — in  faci- 
litating the  financial  arrangements,  and  in  promoting  the  general  interests  of  the  undertak- 
ing, entitles  them  to  the  highest  praise.  Notwithstanding  the  errors  committed,  the  disas- 
ters experienced,  and  the  obstacles  encountered,  the  work  is  now  so  near  to  its  consummation, 
that  nothing  can  prevent  it,  except  some  very  extraordinary  visitation  of  calamity.  If  this 
undertaking  were  now  presented  to  the  community  as  an  original  proposition,  would  not  its 
fate  be  questionable,  and  would  not  the  difficulties  which  have  attended  its  commencement 


APPENDIX. 


479 


and  progress,  be  greatly  augmented,  from  the  increased  rivalries  of  villages,  the  conflicting 
interests  of  individuals,  and  the  accumulated  influence  of  other  causes  ? 

Any  view  of  the  subject,  and  this  view  particularly,  must  elicit  our  humble  and  devout 
thanks  to  Almighty  God,  for  disposing  the  minds  of  the  people  of  this  state,  at  the  most  pro- 
pitious period,  in  favour  of  this  work,  and  for  enabling  them  to  persevere  amidst  all  sur- 
rounding impediments.  A  free  state  has  thus  set  an  illustrious  example  to  the  world ;  has 
evinced  the  energies  of  republican  government,  and  demonstrated  that  the  people  of  this 
country  have  had  the  heads  to  conceive,  the  hearts  to  undertake,  and  the  hands  to  execute, 
the  most  useful  and  stupendous  work  of  the  age. 

But  although  your  city  will  derive  the  greatest  benefit  from  the  canals,  yet  it  will  by  no 
means  be  exclusive.  Like  the  Nile,  they  will  enrich  the  whole  country  through  which  they 
pass,  and  all  the  adjacent  regions  will  feel  their  benignant  and  animating  influence.  Great 
market  towns  will  be  established  in  every  direction,  and  the  banks  of  the  majestic  Hudson 
will  exhibit  a  line  of  villages  and  cities,  that  will  grow  with  the  growth,  and  flourish  with 
the  enlivening  and  reacting  prosperity  of  our  commercial  metropolis.  The  revenue  will  not 
only  extinguish  the  debt  and  defray  the  expenses  of  the  government,  but  it  will  in  time  re- 
alise a  vast  fund,  applicable  to  all  the  objects  of  human  improvement.  Upon  intellectual 
and  moral  cultivation  we  must,  rely  for  the  conservation  of  our  republican  government,  and 
for  the  protection  of  the  last  hopes  of  freedom  and  the  best  destinies  of  man.  When  every 
child  in  the  state  shall  become  the  child  of  the  commonwealth,  and  shall  receive  the  blessings 
of  education  at  the  public  expense,  then  we  may  be  assured  that  neither  fraud  nor  violence, 
neither  intrigue  nor  corruption,  can  destroy  the  sacred  temple  of  liberty. 

Under  any  aspect  of  the  occurrence  which  has  produced  this  manifestation  of  your  friend- 
ship and  confidence,  I  have  no  reason  to  entertain  any  resentment,  or  to  express  any  regret, 
whether  we  estimate  it  by  the  ordinary  standard  that  graduates  the  character  of  human  ac- 
tions, or  contemplate  it  in  connexion  with  other  events  still  more  extraordinary.  Indeed  I 
view  it  as  a  subject  of  high  felicitation,  since  it  has  honoured  me  with  the  approbation  of  the 
most  respectable  and  the  most  respected  among  my  fellow-citizens.  The  venerable  chair- 
man of  your  meeting  was  one  of  the  illustrious  band  of  sages  that  formed  our  national  con- 
stitution ;  and  on  the  committee  I  recognise  the  names  of  some  of  the  men  of  the  revolu- 
tion, whose  deeds  of  patriotism  will  transmit  an  inestimable  legacy  of  fame,  and  a  glorious 
example  of  heroic  virtue,  to  their  posterity.  The  intellectual  and  moral  worth,  and  high 
character  of  the  committee,  and  of  the  chairman  and  secretary  of  the  meeting,  and  its  num- 
ber and  respectability,  afford  conclusive  evidence  of  the  favourable  opinion  of  the  citizens 
of  New-York,  and  I  shall  certainly  rank  their  expression  of  it  among  the  highest  honours 
and  most  auspicious  events  of  my  life. 

I  cannot  conclude,  without  offering  my  particular  acknowledgments  to  those  gentlemen 
who  have  presented  mc  in  person  with  the  proceedings,  for  their  condescending  kindness: 


480 


APPENDIX. 


and  I  most  respectfully  tender  my  sincere  and  heartfelt  thanks  to  my  fellow-citizens  who 
composed  the  meeting,  and  the  committee  who  represent  it.  for  their  favourable  notice  of  my 
efforts  to  promote  the  prosperity  of  our  country. 

DE  WITT  CLINTON. 

Albany,  April  26, 1S24. 


In  the  course  of  conversation  with  a  gentleman  of  high  political  standing, 
expressing  my  surprise  at  the  legislative  act  referred  to,  the  following  remarks 
were  made  on  his  part,  as  in  some  degree  calculated  to  palliate  the  injustice 
that  had  been  done  by  this  high-handed  act  of  violence  and  ingratitude.  He 
observed  that,  "  misunderstandings  had  taken  place  between  members,  parti- 
cularly of  the  board  of  commissioners  and  Mr.  Clinton,  relative  to  certain  mea- 
sures that  had  been  proposed  in  the  location  and  direction  of  some  parts  of  the 
canal,  which  afforded  an  opportunity  to  the  opponents  of  such  measures,  and 
to  his  personal  and  political  enemies,  to  create  the  belief  in  a  portion  of  the 
legislature,  that  his  removal  from  the  place  of  honorary  commissioner,  was 
necessary  for  the  harmonious  prosecution  of  the  remaining  parts  of  the  work." 
He  indeed  assured  me,  that  many  of  the  members  of  both  houses,  including 
some  of  Mr.  Clinton's  personal  friends,  under  the  influence  of  such  considera- 
tion alone,  without  inquiring  into  the  details  of  the  personal  disagreements 
that  had  occurred  in  the  board,  were  induced  to  yield  their  sanction  to  a  mea- 
sure, which,  under  other  circumstances,  was  deemed  by  them  so  highly  im- 
proper and  unjustifiable. 

But  there  are,  doubtless,  other  reasons  than  those-just  alleged,  which  must 
have  operated  in  producing  this  most  extraordinary  legislative  proceeding.  In 
order,  if  possible,  to  disclose  the  source  from  whence  it  originated,  I  applied 
to  Colonel  Stone,  the  editor  of  the  Commercial  Advertiser,  who  was  pre- 
sent, and  had  ample  opportunities  of  knowing  the  various  interests  that  at 
that  time  influenced  the  great  political  parties  into  which  the  state  was  then 
divided.  His  reply  to  my  request,  I  have  his  permission  to  introduce  in  this 
place. 


APPENDIX. 


481 


New-York,  March,  -25th,  1829. 

Dear  Sir, 

At  a  late  hour  last  evening,  I  was  favoured  with  your  note  of  yesterday, 
requesting  a  copy  of  the  speech  of  the  late  Henry  Cunningham,  Esq.  of  Mont- 
gomery county,  delivered  in  the  house  of  assembly,  on  the  resolution,  in  1824, 
for  the  removal  of  De  Witt  Clinton  from  the  board  of  canal  commissioners. 
To  this  request  you  have  done  me  the  honour  to  append  the  following  intima- 
tion :  "You  may,  perhaps,  give  me  some  clue  to  the  circumstances  which  led 
to  that  extraordinary  transaction,  besides  those  alleged  by  the  enemies  of  Mr. 
Clinton."  The  speech  of  Mr.  Cunningham  is  herewith  enclosed  ;  and  as  justice 
requires  that  the  event  to  which  it  refers,  connected  as  it  is  with  the  legislative 
history  of  our  canals,  and  the  political  history  of  Governor  Clinton,  should 
not  be  passed  over  in  silence,  I  readily  undertake  a  compliance  with  the 
whole  of  your  request,  though  it  were  better  perhaps  that  another  pen  should 
make  the  record.  I  shall  endeavour,  however,  to  speak  with  the  utmost  can- 
dour and  impartiality,  using  as  few  names  as  possible. 

You  have  very  justly  denominated  this  an  "  extraordinary  transaction.'1  It 
was  effected  by  a  joint  resolution  of  the  two  branches  of  the  legislature,  on 
the  12th  of  April,  1824.  No  satisfactory  excuse  for  this  harsh  and  intolerant 
measure  ever  has  been,  or  ever  can  be  made.  The  most  that  can  be  said  in 
extenuation  is,  that  it  was  done  at  a  moment  of  high  political  excitement. 
"  There  never  was  a  peifect  man,"  says  a  late  number  of  the  Edinburgh  Re- 
view ;  "it  would,  therefore,  be  the  height  of  absurdity  to  expect  a  perfect 
party  ;  or  a  perfect  assembly  ;  for  large  bodies  are  far  more  likely  to  err  than 
individuals.  The  passions  are  inflamed  ;  the  fear  of  punishment,  and  the 
sense  of  shame,  are  diminished  by  partition.  Every  day  we  see  men  do  for 
their  faction,  what  they  would  rather  die  than  do  for  themselves."  It  is  upon 
this  principle,  and  upon  no  other,  that  we  can  account  for  this  unnecessary, 
and  uncalled  for  act  of  political  proscription.  As  I  have  remarked  before,  it 
was  a  moment  of  high  and  peculiar  political  excitement.  The  then  approach- 
ing presidential  election,  had  called  into  action  many  angry  passions,  and 
fierce  conflicting  opinions,  touching  a  great  measure  involving  the  supposed 


482 


APPENDIX. 


rights  of  the  people,  to  a  direct  participation  in  the  election  of  president.  It 
was  well  known  that  a  large  majority  of  the  people  of  this  state  were  in  favour 
of  Mr.  Adams,  at  that  time,  and  it  was  believed  that  a  small  majority  of  the  le- 
gislature preferred  the  election  of  Mr.  Crawford.  Hence  the  friends  of  the 
former  were  desirous  of  taking  from  the  legislature  the  power  of  appointing 
the  electors,  and  of  referring  the  choice  immediately  to  the  people.  And  the 
friends  of  the  latter  candidate  were  equally  anxious  to  retain  the  power  in 
their  own  hands.  The  political  revolutions  of  1821 — 22,  which  had  swept 
away  the  old  constitution,  and  changed,  in  some  respects,  the  aspect  of  our  poli- 
tical and  civil  institutions,  had  likewise  left  Mr.  Clinton  in  temporary  retirement 
from  the  chair  of  state.  And  although  nearly  balanced  upon  the  presidential 
question,  a  large  majority  of  both  branches  of  the  legislature  were  in  decided 
political  hostility  to  him.  The  consequence  of  this  peculiar  state  of  things 
was,  that  the  friends  of  Mr.  Crawford,  and  the  opponents  of  the  electoral  law, 
devised  the  resolution  for  the  removal  of  Mr.  Clinton,  simply  as  a  political 
ruse  de  guerre.  Availing  themselves  of  the  supposed  unpopularity  of  Mr. 
Clinton  at  that  moment,  they  hoped  at  once  to  extinguish  all  clamour  upon 
the  subject  of  the  electoral  law,  and  ruin  the  cause  of  Mr.  Adams,  by  identify- 
ing the  friends  of  this  measure  and  this  candidate,  with  what  they  were  pleas- 
ed to  consider  the  broken  fortunes  of  the  illustrious  individual  then  suffering 
the  pains  of  political  banishment.  The  project  was  devised,  and  the  whole 
scheme  matured,  as  I  have  the  written  authority  of  a  highly  respectable  mem- 
ber of  the  senate  who  was  present,  for  saying,  in  a  select  and  rather  informal 
caucus,  on  the  evening  before  the  act  was  perpetrated:  No  one,  it  is  believed, 
would  have  denied  the  high-handed  and  daring  injustice  of  the  measure.  But 
it  was  a  large  stake  for  which  they  were  playing;  and  in  the  heat  of  an  embittered 
party  contest, politicians  are  too  often  in  the  habit  of  practising  upon  the  maxim, 
that  the  "  end  justifies  the  means."  It  was  believed  by  the  leaders  in  the  project, 
that  on  a  resolution  for  the  removal  of  Mr.  Clinton,  the  opponents  of  Mr.  Craw- 
ford, and,  as  they  pretended,  of  Mr.  Clinton  also,  would  almost  to  a  man  vote  in 
the  negative.  And  from  that  moment  they  were  to  have  been  denounced  as 
Clintonians.  The  device  was  considered  the  ne  plus  ultra  of  political  cunning. 
But  unfortunately  for  its  projectors,  though  most  fortunate,  as  it  proved,  for 


APPENDIX. 


483 


the  great  object  against  whom  it  was  aimed  as  the  last  fatal  stab,  the  effect 
was  directly  the  reverse  of  what  had  been  anticipated.  The  resolution  was 
moved  in  the  senate  by  Mr.  B.,*  of  Rochester,  and  instantly  adopted. — 
It  was  then  sent  down  to  the  assembly  for  concurrence,  where  it  was  received 
just  as  the  house  was  on  the  point  of  adjourning  sine  die.  It  was  received 
with  unmingled  astonishment  by  every  member  who  had  not  been  intrusted 
with  the  secret.  A  sort  of  panic  seemed  to  prevail,  and  men  looked  at  each 
other  with  fixed  and  unutterable  amazement.  As  I  have  just  remarked,  the 
house  was  on  the  very  point  of  its  final  adjournment,  and  many  of  the  members 
were  packing  the  papers  upon  their  desks,  as  they  were  leaving  their  seats,  when 
the  resolution  was  announced.  Mr.  Cunningham,  who  was  a  fine,  noble-hearted 
man,  and  in  reality  what  Mark  Antony  pretended  to  be — "a  plain  blunt  man, 
who  spoke  right  on,"  was  in  the  act  of  putting  on  his  over-coat.  But  though 
others  stood  hesitating  and  abashed,  it  was  not  the  case  with  him.  With  but 
a  moment  for  reflection,  flinging  his  coat  over  his  arm,  he  turned  to  the 
speaker,  and  with  a  countenance  glowing  with  generous  indignation,  gave  utter- 
ance to  his  feelings  in  the  following  bold  and  manly  sentiments,  in  language 
warm  and  proceeding  spontaneously  from  the  heart 

"  Mr.  Cunningham  said  lie  arose  with  no  ordinary  feelings  of  surprise  and  astonishment  at 
the  resolution  just  read  as  coming  from  the  senate.  Sir,  said  Mr.  C.  it  is  calculated  to  arouse 
the  feelings  of  every  honourable  gentleman  on  this  floor;  its  very  approach  is  marked  with 
black  ingratitude  and  base  design.  I  do  not  wish,  said  Mr.  C.  to  speak  disrespectfully  of  a 
co-ordinate  branch  of  the  legislature,  nor  to  impute  their  acts  to  improper  motives,  but  I 
hope  I  may  be  permitted  to  inquire,  for  what  good  and  honourable  purpose  has  this  resolution 
been  sent  here  for  concurrence,  at  the  very  last  moment  of  the  session. 

"  Is  it  to  create  discord  amongst  us,  and  destroy  that  harmony  and  good  feeling  which 
ought  to  prevail  at  our  separation?  We  have,  said  Mr.  C.  spent  rising  of  three  months  in 
legislation,  and  not  one  word  has  been  dropped  intimating  a  desire  or  intention  to  expel  that 
honourable  gentleman  from  the  board  of  canal  commissioners.    Sir,  he  was  called  to  that 


*  It  is  said,  and  I  believe  the  story  is  not  apochryphal,  that  Mr.  B.  was  the  only  member 
of  the  senate,  who  would  consent  to  rise  in  his  place  and  offer  it.    And  there  was  a  division 

of  labour  in  the  operation  as  it  was  ;  General  E  R  having  written  it ;  Mr.  J  

S  copied  it ;  and  Mr.  B.  presented  it. 


484 


APPENDIX. 


place  by  the  united  voice  and  common  consent  of  the  people  of  this  state,  on  account  of  his 
peculiar  and  transcendant  fitness  to  preside  at  that  board,  and  by  his  counsel  stimulate  and 
forward  the  great  undertaking ;  his  labour  for  years  has  been  arduous  and  unceasing  for  the 
public  good ;  he  endured  slander  and  persecution  from  every  direction  like  a  christian  martyr ; 
but  steadfast  in  his  purpose,  he  pursued  his  course  with  a  firm  and  steady  step,  until  all  was 
crowned  with  success,  and  the  most  flagrant  of  his  opposers  sat  in  sullen  silence. 

"  For  what  let  me  inquire,  did  Mr.  Clinton  endure  all  this  ?  was  it  for  the  sake  of  salary  > 
No,  sir ;  it  was  for  the  honour  and  welfare  of  his  state  ;  it  was  from  noble  and  patriotic  mo- 
tives, and  for  which  he  asked  nothing ;  received  nothing ;  nor  did  lie  expect  any  thing  but  the 
gratitude  of  his  countrymen. 

"  Now,  sir,  said  Mr.  C.  I  put  the  question  to  this  honourable  house  to  decide  upon  the 
oath  which  they  have  taken,  and  upon  their  sense  of  propriety  and  honour,  whether  they  are 
ready  by  their  votes  to  commit  the  sin  of  ingratitude. 

"  I  hope,  said  Mr.  C.  there  is  yet  a  redeeming  spirit  in  this  house;  that  we  shall  not  be 
guilty  of  so  great  an  outrage.  If  we  concur  in  this  resolution,  we  shall  take  upon  ourselves 
an  awful  responsibility,  and  one  for  which  our  constituents  will  call  us  to  strict  account.  What, 
let  me  ask,  shall  we  answer  in  excuse  for  ourselves,  when  we  return  to  an  inquisitive  and 
watchful  people  ?  What  can  we  charge  to  Mr.  Clinton  ;  what  can  we  say  that  he  has  been 
guilty  of,  that  lie  should  now  be  singled  out  as  an  object  of  state  persecution  ?  Will  some 
friend  of  this  resolution  be  kind  enough  to  inform  me?  Sir,  I  challenge  inquiry.  I  demand 
from  the  supporters  of  this  high-handed  measure,  that  they  lay  their  hands  upon  their  hearts, 
and  answer  me  truly,  for  what  cause  is  the  man  to  be  removed  ? 

"  I  dare  assert  in  my  place,  said  Mr.  C.  that  his  doings  as  a  canal  commissioner  are  un- 
hnpeached  and  unimpeachable,  and  such  as  have  even  elicited  the  plaudits  and  admiration  of 
his  political  enemies.  This,  sir,  is  the  official  character  of  the  man  whom  we  now  seek  to 
destroy.  I  hope,  said  Mr.  C.  this  house  will  pardon  me  when  I  freely  declare  my  opinion, 
that  this  resolution  was  engendered  in  the  most  unhallowed  feelings  of  malice,  to  effect  some 
nefarious  and  secret  purpose  at  the  expense  of  the  honour  and  integrity  of  this  legislature ; 
however  harsh  it  may  seem,  it  is  the  irresistible  impulse  of  my  mind. 

"  Some  may  call  me  federalist,  or  Clintonian,  and  hence  my  zeal  manifested  on  this  occa- 
sion ;  not  so,  sir  ;  no  party  name  or  feeling  shall  be  suffered  to  influence  my  conduct  or  my 
vote,  when  considerations  of  justice,  of  gratitude,  and  of  principle,  make  their  demand 
upon  me. 

"  However  much  I  esteem  Mr.  Clinton  as  a  profound  statesman  and  scholar,  I  am  not  em- 
barked with  his  political  fortunes,  but  speak  free  and  untrammelled,  without  fear,  favour,  or 
affection. 

"  I  am  well  aware,  said  Mr.  C.  that  some  honourable  gentlemen  may  think  if  they  vote 
against  this  resolution,  they  will  be  suspected  in  their  politics ;  such  considerations  ought 


APPENDIX. 


IN.') 


not  to  influence  us  on  this  subject.  Mr.  Clinton  is  not  in  the  political  market ;  he  reposes  in 
the  shades  of  honourable  retirement ;  he  asks  for  no  office  and  possesses  none,  but  the  one  of 
which  lie  is  about  to  be  stripped. 

"  The  senate,  it  appears,  have  been  actuated  by  some  cruel  and  malignant  passion,  unac- 
counted for,  and  have  made  a  rush  upon  this  house,  and  taken  us  on  surprise.  The  resolu- 
tion may  pass;  but  if  it  does,  my  word  for  it,  we  arc  disgraced  in  the  judgment  and  good  sense 
of  an  injured  but  intelligent  community.  Whatever  the  fate  of  this  resolution  may  be,  let  it 
be  remembered,  that  Mr.  Clinton  has  acquired  a  reputation  not  to  be  destroyed  by  the  pitiful 
malice  of  a  few  leading  partisans  of  the  day. 

"  When  the  contemptible  party  strifes  of  the  present  day  shall  have  passed  by,  and  the  poli- 
tical bargainers  and  jugglers  who  now  hang  round  this  capitol  for  subsistence,  shall  be  over- 
whelmed and  forgotten  in  their  own  insignificance ;  when  the  gentle  breeze  shall  pass 
over  the  tomb  of  that  great  man,  carrying  with  it  the  just  tribute  of  honour  and  praise  which 
is  now  withheld ;  the  pen  of  the  future  historian,  in  better  days  and  in  better  times,  will  do  him 
justice,  and  erect  to  his  memory  a  proud  monument  of  fame,  as  imperishable  as  the  splendid 
works  which  owe  their  origin  to  his  genius  and  perseverance. 

"  Sir,  I  have  done ;  and  I  have  only  to  beseech  every  honourable  gentleman  on  this  floor, 
to  weigh  and  consider  well  the  consequences  of  the  vote  which  he  is  about  to  give  on  this 
important  question :  it  is  probably  the  last  that  will  be  given  this  session ;  and  I  pray  God  it 
may  be  such  as  will  not  disgrace  us  in  the  eyes  of  our  constituents." 

The  appeal,  however,  of  this  generous  and  patriotic  man,  who  has  since 
been  summoned  to  an  early  grave,  was  vain.  Many  of  the  ablest  and  best 
men,  though  pricked  to  the  heart  with  the  injustice  of  the  deed,  were  yet  fear- 
ful of  snares  and  pitfalls,  and  in  the  doubt  and  perturbation  of  the  moment, 
voted  for  the  fatal  resolution.*  There  was  a  want  of  moral  courage  in  this 
matter,  which  cannot  be  excused.  The  question  should  have  been  met  upon 
its  merits,  whatever  might  have  been  the  consequences.  Still,  however,  there 
is  much  in  the  attending  circumstances,  to  mitigate  the  sharpness  of  our  cen- 
sure ;  and  the  result  was  all  that  the  friends  of  civil  liberty,  and  foes  to  pro- 
scription and  intolerance,  could  have  desired.    This  act  aroused  the  spirit  of 


*  In  the  senate,  the  vote  stood  as  follows: — Ayes  21;  noes  3! — The  votes  of  the 
assembly  were,  ayes  64  ;  noes  31. 

59 


486 


APPENDIX. 


the  people  to  the  highest  pitch  of  excitement.  The  post  from  which  Mr.  Clinton 
was  then  ejected,  had  become  merely  honorary.  The  great  public  works  in 
which  the  state  was  then  engaged,  and  which  had  been  thus  far  prosecuted 
with  such  distinguished  success,  under  the  general  superintendence  of  his  pre- 
siding genius,  were  almost  completed,  and  the  plans  had  all  been  matured 
and  determined. 

For  fourteen  years  De  Witt  Clinton  had  held  the  office  of  a  commissioner 
on  the  subject  of  canals,  during  which  period  he  had  bent  all  the  energies  of 
his  soul,  and  all  the  resources  of  his  capacious  mind,  to  the  accomplishment 
of  these  mighty  works.  For  years  he  had  to  struggle  against  an  opposition, 
which  it  might  be  supposed  would  have  appalled  the  most  daring,  and  over- 
whelmed the  stoutest  heart.  But  he  breasted  himself  to  the  torrent  like  a 
giant,  and  not  only  turned  its  current  back,  but  by  his  resistless  powers,  com- 
pelled his  foes  to  do  homage  to  the  triumphs  of  his  genius.  And  the  whole  of 
this  period  of  fourteen  years  had  been  devoted  to  this  branch  of  the  public 
service,  without  salary  or  compensation.  The  intelligence  spread  with  the 
rapidity  of  lightning,  and  the  fire  of  indignation  followed  in  its  train.  Public 
meetings  were  called,  and  attended  by  overwhelming  numbers,  in  every 
part  of  the  state.  From  Sag-Harbour  to  Niagara,  there  was  a  spontaneous 
demand  from  the  people  to  bring  back  the  persecuted  patriot  and  statesman 
from  his  retirement.  The  sequel  is  known.  Mr.  Crawford  was  not  chosen 
president,  and  Mr.  Clinton  was  again  called  to  the  chief  magistracy  of  the 
state,  by  a  majority  then  unparalleled  in  the  annals  of  our  contested  elec- 
tions. 

I  have  dwelt  longer,  and  with  greater  particularity  upon  this  transaction 
than  I  otherwise  should  have  done,  not  only  because  it  was  a  very  important 
event  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Clinton,  as  connected  with  the  political  history  of  this 
state,  but  because  I  do  not  believe  the  subject  has  been  generally  or  clearly  un- 
derstood. Amid  the  din  of  party  strife,  a  candid  and  impartial  statement  of  the 
case  was  hardly  to  be  expected  from  the  partisan  presses  of  either  side ;  each 
being  anxious  to  place  the  conduct  of  its  political  friends  in  the  fairest  possi- 
ble light.    But  the  excitement  and  feelings  of  that  day  have  already  passed 


APPENDIX. 


487 


away.  And  the  bitterness  of  political  hate,  which  rankled  in  the  bosoms  of 
Mr.  Clinton's  foes,  was  buried  with  his  ashes.  The  distinguished  rivals  for 
the  presidential  chair  at  that  period,  have  both  passed  from  the  political  stage, 
so  that  the  truth  can  now  be  spoken  without  obstacle  or  restraint.  I  have 
endeavoured  to  give  the  history  of  the  event  with  truth  and  impartiality  ;  and 
believe  I  have  succeeded  in  disclosing  the  secret  springs  of  action  which  led 
to  a  measure  so  unjust  in  itself,  so  well  concerted,  and  yet  so  suicidal  to  its 
authors.    Fiat  justitia,  ruat  caelum. 

I  am  sir,  with  respect, 

Very  truly  yours, 

WILLIAM  L.  STONE. 

Dr.  David  Hosaok. 


Note  EE.— p.  111. 

While  the  author  was  engaged  in  collecting  materials  for  this  work,  he  re- 
quested a  friend  to  address  a  letter  to  George  Tibbits,  Esq.  of  Troy,  who  was 
an  active  member  of  the  legislature,  at  the  moment  the  most  important  canal 
laws  were  enacted,  for  such  facts  as  might  be  in  his  power  to  furnish,  particu- 
larly upon  the  subject  of  the  measures  of  finance,  in  which  Mr.  Tibbits,  it  is 
well  known,  took  an  active  part.  In  reply  to  that  request,  Mr.  Tibbits  wrote 
an  interesting  communication,  which  was  subsequently  placed  in  the  author's 
hands  for  his  private  information.  Although  it  was  manifestly  written  without 
the  remotest  idea  of  its  publication,  it  seems  too  valuable  to  be  lost ;  the 
author  has  therefore  determined  to  preserve  a  large  extract  from  this  commu- 
nication, in  the  present  collection  of  historical  documents.  He  trusts  the 
highly  respectable  writer  of  the  letter  will  excuse  the  liberty  taken  therewith, 
inasmuch  as,  after  this  explanation,  not  the  slightest  imputation  of  egotism 
or  vanity  can  rest  upon  him. 


488 


APPENDIX. 


Extract  of  a  letter  from  the  Hon.  George  Tibbits,  to  Benjamin  Tibbits,  Esq. 

Troy,  June  13th,  1828. 

I  feel  myself  very  much  indebted  to  Dr.  Hosack,  for  his  friendly  inquiries  in  regard  to  the 
part  which  it  fell  to  my  lot  to  perform  towards  advancing  the  construction  of  our  canals,  and 
for  his  suggesting  to  you,  that  a  correspondence  with  him  on  this  subject  would  be  accep- 
table. 

Navigable  communications  between  the  Hudson  and  the  great  lakes,  were  subjects  of 
great  solicitude  from  a  very  early  day.  And  for  their  advancement  our  firm,  your  father 
and  myself,  became  stockholders  to  the  extent  of  our  means,  in  the  old  Champlain  Joint 
Stock  Company,  which  proved  a  total  loss.  The  magnitude  of  these  undertakings  discour- 
aged all  individual  efforts.  Nothing'short  of  the  power  of  the  state,  or  the  United  States, 
seemed  equal  to  the  task ;  and  these  impressions  were  generally  entertained  long  before  the 
incipient  steps  of  1808, 10,  1 1,  12,  and  16  were  taken.  But  the  mode  and  manner  in  which 
the  strength  of  government  should  be  applied,  became  a  subject  of  equally  great  interest 
and  solicitude.  In  common  with  all  the  other  advocates  of  the  proposed  canals,  they  became 
with  me  the  subjects  of  frequent  discussions  in  private  and  public  circles,  and  in  the  public 
prints,  always  advocating  the  general  principle  to  be  carried  into  effect  by  almost  any  means, 
though  it  would  be  uncandid  in  me  not  to  admit  my  decided  opposition  to  the  mode  of  finance 
adopted  in  the  act  of  19th  June,  1812 ;  viz.  that  of  authorising  the  commissioners  to  borrow 
five  millions  on  the  general  credit  of  the  state ;  and  this  sum  to  be  vested  in  some  sort  of  stock 
at  their  discretion,  to  be  from  time  to  time  sold  and  applied  to  the  construction  of  the  canals. 
The  mass  of  the  community  soon  became  divided  into  two  sections,  those  advocating,  and 
those  opposing  the  construction  of  the  canals  by  the  state,  and  the  line  of  division  mainly 
that  of  private  or  local  interest.  Those  opposing  were  the  southern  and  middle  counties, 
including  Delaware  and  the  eastern  parts  of  Rensselaer  and  Washington  counties,  with 
parts  of  Saratoga,  Montgomery,  and  Schoharie.  The  general  allegations  of  those  opposed 
were,  that  they  were  not  to  be  benefited,  but  probably  injured  by  the  canals  if  the  state  should 
succeed  in  making  them.  That  if  completed,  they  would  let  in  the  products  of  the  illimita- 
ble regions  of  the  west,  and  reduce  the  price  of  their  agricultural  commodities.  That  in 
fixing  on  places  of  residence,  some  had  gone  west,  and  become  the  proprietors  of  townships 
at.  the  same  price  which  others  had  paid  for  farms  near  the  Hudson.  That  it  was  unjust  to  tax 
the  latter  to  make  canals  for  raising  the  price  of  the  former.  That  if  the  west  and  north  wanted 
better  roads  and  canals,  it  was  for  them  to  be  at  the  expense  of  their  construction,  and  not  for 
those  who  did  not  want  them,  but  were  to  be  injured  by  them,  and  protested  stoutly  against 
any  additional  taxes  on  the  increase  of  the  state  debt,  thereby  mortgaging  their  farms  near 
the  Hudson,  to  make  canals  which  could  not  be  of  any  benefit  to  them,  and  none  other  but  the 


APPENDIX. 


IS!) 


west  and  north.  The  law  of  1812,  as  soon  as  generally  known,  became  the  subject  of  alter- 
cation, and  was  soon  repealed. 

If  I  am  entitled  to  any  credit  more  than  other  zealous  advocates  for  the  canals,  it  is  for 
efforts  which  proved  successful  in  allaying  these  difficulties.  Having  had  the  honour  of 
serving  on  the  two  joint  committees  on  canals  for  the  years  101G  and  1817,  I  took  the 
liberty  of  submitting  my  views  to  the  committee  of  1816.  Before  the  sessioii  of  1817,1 
prepared  and  digested  a  project  of  finance.  It  was  that  of  constituting  a  fund  of  money 
income,  to  be  denominated  the  Canal  Fund,  and  applied  exclusively  to  that  purpose.  It  was 
presumed  that  the  city  of  New- York  (notwithstanding  her  representation  opposed  the  ca- 
nals,) must  be  more  than  compensated  by  them  for  the  loss  of  the  share  of  the  auction 
duties  which  she  had  so  long  enjoyed,  and  which  for  one  I  should  not  have  voted  to  take 
from  her  for  any  other  purpose.  That  the  west,  who  were  the  exclusive  consumers  of  the 
salt  made  there,  would  consent  to  a  heavy  tax  upon  it  rather  than  not  have  the  canals.  That 
some  of  the  towns  and  counties  who  were  conceded  to  be  benefited,  would  consent  to  a 
small  addition  to  their  ordinary  taxes ;  that  the  state  could,  without  feeling  or  hardly 
knowing  it,  devote  a  section  of  its  wild  lands  to  this  purpose ;  that  a  steam-boat  pas- 
senger tax  might,  right  or  wrong,  be  imposed.  These  were  estimated  to  produce  annually 
about  two  hundred  thousand  dollars,  exclusive  of  tolls  on  the  canals,  which,  without  borrow- 
ing any  money  on  the  general  credit  of  the  state,  or  this  fund,  would  allow  of  the  canals 
progressing  slowly.  But  by  allowing  the  commissioners  to  borrow  annually  upon  the  cre- 
dit of  this  fund,  a  sum  which,  together  with  the  nett  income  left  after  paying  interest,  should 
amount  to  584,000  dollars,  would  allow  them  to  progress  rapidly,  and  leave  a  reasonable 
presumption  that  they  would  be  completed  in  twelve  years,  estimating  their  cost  at  seven 
millions.  The  estimates  when  they  came  to  be  reported  were  less  by  the  amount  of  about 
two  millions,  still  it  was  thought  best  not  to  deduct  any  thing  from  the  project,  as  they  might 
cost  much  more.  This  project  of  finance  with  very  long  statements  in  figures,  showing 
what  would  be  its  annual  operation,  with  estimates  of  the  probable  annual  additions  to  it 
from  tolls  and  charges  of  interest  payable  from  it,  were  submitted  by  me  to  Governor  Clin- 
ton at  a  very  early  day  of  the  session  of  1817,  with  notes  of  the  general  principles  of  a  bill, 
and  with  a  request  that  he  would  give  to  them  the  most  deliberate  investigation  and  consi- 
deration, and  that  he  would  draw  a  bill  to  be  reported  by  the  committee  conformable  to 
them.  The  Governor  heard  me  and  took  my  budget,  saying  that  he  would  examine  it  as 
soon  as  he  had  leisure  :  it  was  unavoidably  voluminous.  It  appeared  to  me  that  he  gave  the 
preference  to  the  project  of  19th  June,  1812,  as  he  spoke  favourably  of  that  project,  but  at 
the  same  time  admitted  the  repugnance  of  public  opinion  to  a  large  loan  at  first.  Thought 
a  loan  for  a  less  sum  at  first  worth  consideration  ;  that  New-York  would  resist  any  attempt 
to  take  away  the  auction  duties  ;  that  the  western  counties  would  resist  so  large  a  tax  as 
twelve  and  a  half  cents  on  salt — suggested  six  cents.    I  waited  on  him  once  afterwards  to 


490 


APPENDIX. 


see  if  he  had  made  any  progress  in  drawing  a  bill ;  said  he  had  not,  but  would  devote  some 
time  to  it  soon. 

Soon  after  my  first  interview  with  the  Governor  at  the  session  of  1817, 1  submitted  the 
project  to  the  joint  committee,  and  informed  them  of  what  I  had  done  in  regard  to  the  Go- 
vernor ;  they  approved  of  the  plan,  but  at  the  same  time  wished  it  to  have  the  sanction  of 
the  Governor.  At  a  succeeding  meeting  we  met  to  consider  a  bill  expected  from  the  Gover- 
nor, but  got  none  ;  when  we  came  to  the  understanding  that  Mr.  Ford,  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee from  the  Assembly,  should  take  my  papers,  and  the  next  day  draw  a  bill  conformable 
to  the  principles  suggested.  The  committee  were  to  meet  the  next  evening  to  consider  it, 
but  did  not  do  so,  but  obtained  from  the  Governor  a  bill  which  he  reported  to  the  Assembly 
without  consulting  the  committee  from  the  Senate.  It  was  thought  most  strange  that  Mr. 
Ford  should  report  a  bill  without  submitting  it  to  the  committee  on  the  part  of  the  Senate. 
But  the  gentlemen  of  the  committee,  all  I  believe  except  myself,  fearing  lest  any  interfer- 
ence of  theirs  might  prevent  the  passage  of  some  bill,  remained  silent.  I  did  no  more  than 
to  give  Mr.  Ford,  and  the  gentlemen  of  our  committee,  notice  that  I  should  not  vote  for  the 
bill;  that  if  his  bill  ever  came  to  the  Senate,  which  I  thought  it  would  not,  I  should  offer  a 
substitute.  The  Governor's  bill  was  printed,  and  the  Assembly  went  into  committee  upon 
it  several  times,  when  Wheeler  Barnes,  Esq.  of  the  Assembly,  from  Oneida,  with  whom 
I  had  had  frequent  conversations  on  the  subject,  and  to  whom  I  had  shown  the  papers,  and  as 
much  of  the  bill  as  I  had  drawn,  came  to  me  and  said  the  Assembly  would  never  pass  the 
Governor's  bill,  and  asked  me  for  the  papers.  With  his  assistance  a  bill  was  written  out,  which 
the  next  day  he  offered  to  the  Assembly  as  a  substitute  for  the  bill  then  before  the  house  : 
it  was  accepted,  printed,  and  by  large  majorities  passed  both  houses  promptly.  On  motion 
I  think  of  Mr.  Duer,  in  the  Assembly,  the  tax  on  towns  and  counties  along  the  line  of  the 
canal,  was  changed  for  a  tax  on  all  lands  lying  within  twenty-five  miles  of  the  canal ;  and  in 
the  Senate,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  the  faith  of  the  state  was  pledged  for  the  re- 
demption of  the  debt.  For  as  the  bill  was  drawn,  and  as  it  passed  the  Assembly,  the 
faith  of  the  state  was  only  pledged  for  continuing  the  sources  of  income,  and  of  the  appli- 
cation of  this  income  to  the  canals,  and  to  the  redemption  of  any  loans  which  might  be  made 
on  the  credit  of  that  income. 

Reference  may  he  had  to  many  of  the  then  members  of  the  legislature  for  the  general 
correctness  of  this  statement.  I  name  the  Hon.  Peter  R.  Livingston,  to  whom  I  have  said 
nothing  about  it  since,  but  who,  I  have  no  doubt,  will  recollect  some  of  the  several  conver- 
sations which  we  had,  and  of  my  showing  and  explaining  to  him  the  papers  containing  this 
projet  of  finance,  in  the  hope  of  doing  away  his  objections  against  this  great  work  being 
undertaken  by  the  state.  Also  Samuel  Young,  Esq.  one  of  the  canal  commissioners.  I 
name  especially,  Wheeler  Barnes,  Esq.  of  Oneida,  who  lodged  at  Crittenden's  with  me,  and 
to  a  letter  from  him,  which  you  will  find  in  the  appendix  to  the  pamphlet  which  is  herewith 


APPENDIX. 


491 


sent.  I  cannot  now  put  my  hand  on  any  of  the  fugitive  remarks  of  mine  in  the  newspapers 
in  regard  to  the  canals  previous  their  commencement,  as  I  kept  no  copies  or  files  of  the  pa- 
pers. The  twelve  or  thirteen  numbers  in  the  Troy  Post,  over  the  signature  of  Cato,  were 
written  long  after,  and  alter  the  middle  sections  from  the  Seneca  River  to  the  Mohawk  had 
been  completed.  They  were  written  to  show  the  impolitic  proceedings  of  the  canal  commis- 
sioners in  pushing  forward  the  construction  of  the  one  hundred  and  sixty  odd  miles  of  the 
Erie  Canal  west  of  the  Seneca,  before  the  eastern  section  and  Champlain  should  be  com- 
pleted and  brought  together  upon  the  Hudson,  upon  which  very  little  was  then  doing,  though 
upon  their  being  so  finished  before  tho  western  section  should  be  undertaken,  and  upon 
tolls  expected  from  them,  depended  in  a  great  degree  the  success  of  the  fund,  and  its  proving 
sufficient  to  complete  the  canals.  The  remarks  of  Cato  being  long  after  the  commencement 
of  the  canals,  are  probably  not  within  the  purview  intended  to  be  taken  of  this  subject  by 
Dr.  Hosack,  and  are  therefore  not  sent. 

Although  I  did  not  fall  in  with  Governor  Clinton's  project  of  making  the  canals  a  com- 
mon charge  upon  the  state  treasury,  and  of  partial  appropriations  from  time  to  time,  nor  in 
that  of  finishing  the  western  section  simultaneously  with  the  eastern,  still  I  consider  Gover- 
nor Clinton's  efforts  in  preparing  public  opinion  for  this  great  work,  and  keeping  up  public 
feeling  and  opinion,  worthy  of  all  praise,  and  I  have  no  doubt  but  that  Dr.  Hosack  will  da 
him  the  most  ample  justice. 

In  reading  over  the  foregoing,  I  find  that  I  have  not  pointed  out  the  particular  differences 
between  the  bill  from  Gov.  Clinton  reported  by  Mr.  Ford,  and  the  substitute  for  it  offered  by 
Mr.  Barnes.  But  you  will  find  several  of  them  stated  in  the  letter  of  Mr.  Barnes,  in  the 
appendix  of  the  pamphlet  now  sent. 

Respectfully,  &c. 

GEORGE  TIBBITS. 

The  following  is  the  letter  referred  to  by  Mr.  Tibbits.  It  is  introduced  not 
only  as  useful  to  a  full  elucidation  of  the  subject  to  which  it  relates,  but  as  a 
valuable  statement  of  facts  from  a  gentleman  who  had  no  inconsiderable 
share  in  maturing  the  scheme  of  finance  adopted  by  the  legislature. 

Letter  from  the  Hon.  Wficelcr  Barnes  to  Elkanah  Watson,  Esq. 

Rome,  April  12,  1820. 

Respected  Sir, 

I  understand  that  in  your  contemplated  history  of  the  rise  and  progress  of  canals  in 
this  state,  you  are  desirous  of  assigning  to  the  different  contributors  and  advocates  of  the 


492 


APPENDIX. 


various  projects,  their  due  proportion  of  merit,  and  that  for  this  purpose  you  wish  communi- 
cations. As  the  Hon.  George  Tibhits,  then  of  the  Senate,  boarded  at  the  same  house  with 
me,  and  as  we  spent  many  of  our  leisure  hours  together  during  the  session  of  1817,  upon 
the  subject  of  the  canals,  a  friend  of  his  has  suggested  the  propriety  of  giving  you  some 
account  of  the  part  he  took  in  contributing  to  the  act  of  that  year. 

In  the  assembly  journals  it  appears,  that  on  the  17th  of  February,  the  report  of  the  canal 
commissioners  was  referred  to  a  joint  committee,  of  which  Mr.  T.  was  a  member ;  that 
thirty  days  after,  the  committee  reported,  on  the  17th  of  March;  that  on  the  28th,  the 
house  went  into  a  committee  of  the  whole  ;  and  also  on  the  2d,  4th,  7th,  8th,  9th  and  10th 
of  April,  being  seven  times  in  all ;  and  on  the  11th,  passed  the  bill,  and  sent  it  to  the  Senate. 
The  bill  accompanying  the  report  presented  by  the  chairman,  Mr.  Ford,  is  not  on  the  jour- 
nals, though  it  was  printed  with  the  report  in  a  pamphlet  form  of  twenty-four  pages,  by 
Websters  and  Skinners,  in  1817.  This  bill  you  will  perceive  is  essentially  different  from 
the  one  acted  upon  and  finally  adopted,  and  still  no  notice  is  taken  in  the  journals  of  the 
exchange  of  the  one  for  the  other.  By  comparing  them  together,  it  cannot  have  escaped 
you,  that  the  difference  is  very  important,  both  in  their  details  and  main  features.  One 
point  of  difference  consists  in  substituting  for  a  loan  of  one  and  a  half  millions,  an  efficient 
and  durable  plan  of  finance,  by  which  the  commissioners  could  continue  without  further  legis- 
lative aid.  To  Mr.  Tibbits  I  am  satisfied  that  the  state  is  much  indebted  for  this  important 
feature. 

In  a  government  like  ours,  the  subject  of  finance  for  such  and  so  great  an  undertaking, 
was  viewed  as  difficult.  On  it  very  much  depended  the  success  of  the  undertaking,  both  as 
to  passing  a  law,  and  completing  the  work.  Immediately  after  his  appointment,  Mr.  Tib- 
bits  applied  himself  with  industry  to  devise  and  prepare  a  plan,  which  would  complete  the 
canals  without  impoverishing  the  treasury,  exhausting  the  funds  of  the  state,  burthening  the 
people  with  taxes,  or  placing  the  canals  subject  to  the  influence  of  party  views,  or  local  pre- 
judices ;  and  the  report  of  the  committee  (as  to  ways  and  meaps)  contains  the  views  of  Mr. 
T.  as  exhibited  by  him  to  me,  in  his  own  hand  writing,  before  the  report  was  made.  But 
when  the  bill  was  presented,  Mr.  Tibbits  appeared  disappointed  that  it  did  not  embrace  the 
plan  of  finance  contained  in  the  report.  Mr.  T.  thereupon  spent  considerable  time  with  me  in 
preparing  another  bill  as  a  substitute,  which  I  presented  to  the  house  with  the  approbation  of 
the  chairman,  and  it  was  ordered  to  be  printed.  This  order  does  not  appear  upon  the  journals  ; 
and  when  the  house  went  into  committee  of  the  whole,  the  substitute  was  taken  up,  and  was 
the  only  bill  acted  upon.  The  alterations  it  underwent  in  the  house  were,  leaving  out  the 
section  respecting  the  acknowledgment  and  recording  of  deeds,  and  the  tax  upon  the  valu- 
ations of  real  and  personal  property  in  those  places  thought  to  be  more  essentially  benefited, 
and  substituting  in  lieu  thereof,  (an  motion  of  Mr.  Duer)  a  tax  upon  the  land  twenty-five 
miles  on  each  side  of  the  canals.    The  plan  of  Mr.  Tibbits  was  to  establish  a  fund  to  be 


APPENDIX. 


C93 


managed  by  commissioners,  the  income  of  which  would  raise  money  sufficient  to  complete 
the  canals  in  twelve  or  fourteen  years  with  seven  millions  of  dollars,  and  leave  a  sinking 
fund  sufficient  to  redeem  the  debt  to  be  created,  at  a  period  not  far  distant  from  their  com- 
pletion. I  have  copies  of  his  projects  and  calculations  taken  at  the  time.  The  bill  substi- 
tuted for  the  first,  was  drawn  upon  the  principal  of  seven  millions  in  twelve  years,  that  is,  to 
raise  and  expend  the  net  sum  of  584,000  dollars. 

After  the  bill  had  passed  the  house,  the  alterations  made  by  the  senate,  and  concurred  in 
by  the  house,  were,  striking  out  that  sum,  and  inserting  400,000  dollars,  and  striking  out 
the  appropriation  of  land  of  the  value  of  000,000  dollars,  or  which  might  produce  50,000 
dollars  yearly  for  twelve  years,  and  adding  the  Lieutenant-Governor  as  one  of  the  commis- 
sioners of  the  canal  fund,  and  borrowing  money  on  the  credit  of  the  state,  instead 
of  the  credit  of  the  canal  fund.  Had  the  bill  been  adopted  by  the  Senate,  as  sent 
them  by  the  Assembly,  without  alteration,  the  canals  might  have  been  completed  without 
further  legislative  appropriation.  The  first  bill,  instead  of  adopting  a  plan  of  finance, 
directs  the  commissioners  to  digest  and  present  one  to  the  ensuing  legislature.  There  are 
other  important  provisions  in  the  bill  adopted,  which  I  omit  to  notice,  as  the  only  object  of 
this  hasty  sketch  is,  that  merit  may  receive  its  due,  as  it  regards  the  individual  mentioned, 
without  detracting  from  that  of  others,  and  to  show  that  he  is  not  only  in  profession, 
but  in  deed,  a  friend  to  this  magnificent  undertaking. 

I  am,  Sir,  with  great  respect, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

WHEELER  BARNES. 

Elkanah  Watson,  Esq. 


Note. — p.  111. 

When  we  take  a  review  of  the  facts  which  have  been  noticed  in  the  preced- 
ing pages  of  this  work,  relative  to  the  canal  policy  of  this  state,  we  are  pre- 
pared to  appreciate  and  to  express  our  unqualified  approbation  of  the  judi- 
cious, pertinent,  and  correct  observations  presented  to  the  state  in  the 
messages  of  his  late  Excellency  Governor  Yates,  in  1823  and  1824.  All  party 
feelings  having  subsided,  his  remarks  relative  to  that  subject  will  now  be 
perused  with  the  interest  which  is  due  to  them. 

60 


494 


APPENDIX. 


Extracts  from  Governor  Yates''  Messages,  delivered  in  1823  and  1824. 

"  It  gives  me  much  pleasure  to  state,  that  the  canal  system,  so  wisely  adopted  and  success- 
fully pursued  in  the  state,  promises  to  realize  the  expectations  of  the  community.  The  con- 
venience already  afforded  to  the  inhabitants,  by  the  facility  with  which  the  products  of  the 
country  may  be  brought  to  market,  has  exceeded  the  most  sanguine  hopes  of  its  warmest 
supporters." 

"  During  the  last  year,  the  Champlain  Canal  has  been  rendered  navigable  to  the  Hudson 
River,  at  the  city  of  Albany,  and  the  completion  of  the  Erie  Canal,  the  ensuing  season  or 
the  summer  following,  is  rendered  morally  certain,  so  that  the  period  is  not  distant  when  we 
shall  fully  experience  the  benefits  and  important  advantages  secured  to  our  citizens  by  this 
unexampled  improvement.  A  more  propitious  era,  connected  with  the  growth  and  prospe- 
rity of  our  country,  cannot  well  be  imagined ;  and  in  taking  a  retrospective  view  of  the  en- 
terprise and  patriotism  of  our  predecessors,  it  is  difficult  to  suppress  the  most  endearing 
emotions  of  respect  and  gratitude,  for  the  memory  of  those  with  whom  this  vastly  import- 
ant and  useful  project  of  connecting  the  western  and  northern  lakes  with  the  waters  of  the 
Hudson,  first  originated.  On  examining  our  statute  book,  we  find  as  early  as  1 792,  within 
nine  years  after  our  revolutionary  struggle,  and  whilst  the  western  and  northern  parts  of  the 
state  were  a  perfect  wilderness,  a  legislature  composed  almost  exclusively  of  those  who  had 
contributed  towards  achieving  our  independence,  and  whose  zeal  and  devotion  for  their 
country's  good,  it  seems,  did  not  cease  with  that  memorable  event,  passing  a  law  incorporat- 
ing two  inland  navigation  companies,  one  for  the  western  and  another  for  the  northern  part 
of  the  state,  both  of  which  commenced  their  operations  and  expended  large  sums  of  money. 
The  northern  company  soon  desisted,  but  the  western  continued  their  exertions,  although 
comparatively  circumscribed,  on  account  of  the  situation  of  the  country,  and  the  source 
from  whence  their  funds  were  derived.  But  those  incipient  measures  introduced  further 
inquiry  and  investigation,  and  after  a  great  portion  of  the  western  and  northern  parts  of  the 
state  became  inhabited,  the  subject  claimed  and  received  the  attention  of  many  of  its  en- 
terprising citizens,  who  caused  examinations  and  surveys  to  be  made,  which  resulted  in  a 
conviction  that  the  undertaking  was  too  extensive,  and  probably  not  within  the  reach  of  pri- 
vate capital,  and  that  this  great  work  could  only  be  accomplished  by  the  state  itself.  This 
opinion  continued  to  gain  ground,  until  it  became  manifest  that  a  large  and  respectable  por- 
tion of  the  citizens  were  its  advocates ;  and  the  proper  period  to  forward  the  views  and  in- 
tentions of  its  friends  and  supporters,  soon  arrived.  Measures  were  accordingly  adopted, 
to  proceed  the  most  effectually  in  the  prosecution  of  the  work,  and  after  extinguishing  the 
existing  rights  of  the  western  inland  navigation  company,  those  measures  were  persevered 
in,  by  the  people  of  this  state,  with  ardour  and  uncommon  unanimity ;  abundantly  evinced 
by  the  united  and  uniform  support  of  their  representatives,  in  voting  annual  appropriations 


APPENDIX. 


495 


of  sums  of  money,  unusual  in  amount  to  bo  granted  within  so  short  a  period  for  the  like 
purpose,  by  the  government  of  other  countries,  possessed  of  much  greater  and  more  exten- 
sive resources. 

"  The  Champlain  Canal  having  been  finished,  and  the  Erie  Canal  being  in  operation  for 
upwards  of  two  hundred  miles,  it  is  submitted  to  you,  whether  independent  of  providing 
the  necessary  means  to  enable  the  commissioners  to  finish  the  western  section,  legislative 
interposition  has  not  become  necessary,  in  conducting  the  extensive  concerns  connected 
with  the  operation  of  the  system,  as  far  as  it  has  progressed ;  and  to  expedite  the  adjust- 
ment of  existing  claims  for  damages  of  meritorious  citizens,  who  have  patiently  submitted 
to  privations  arising  out  of  the  necessity  of  the  measure  for  public  good ;  but  from  whom  a 
just  and  equitable  remuneration  ought  no  longer  to  be  withheld. 

The  navigation  of  the  Hudson  since  the  introduction  of  the  canals,  lias  assumed  an  im- 
portance highly  interesting  to  the  citizens  of  this  state.  The  same  subject  has  heretofore 
been  presented  to  the  legislature,  and  commissioners  have  been  appointed  by  a  law  passed 
for  the  purpose,  to  report  a  plan  for  improving  the  navigation  of  the  river.  Their  report 
has  been  received,  and  appears  on  the  journals.  By  it,  two  plans,  with  estimates  of  their 
respective  expenses,  are  given,  one  for  deepening  the  channel  of  the  river,  and  the  other 
for  a  lateral  canal  for  ship  navigation  ;  but  canalling  is  recommended  as  the  most  efficient 
plan,  if  it  should  be  judged  that  the  benefit  to  be  derived  from  it,  is  of  sufficient  magnitude 
to  make  its  adoption  advisable.  The  report  further  states,  that  no  extraordinary  obstacles 
are  presented  to  its  execution — that  the  track  indicates  facilities  which  were  not  anticipated 
before  it  was  minutely  explored.  The  accuracy  of  estimates,  emanating  from  so  respect- 
able a  source,  cannot  be  questioned  ;  and  the  amount  of  the  expenses  stated,  ought  not  to 
be  put  in  competition  with  the  positive  advantages  to  be  secured  by  it  to  the  country.  The 
vast  amount  of  property  produced  by  the  soil  and  by  the  industry  of  the  western  and  north- 
em  citizens  of  this  state,  to  be  benefited  by  sales  at  a  market  for  direct  exportation,  can 
readily  be  anticipated.  If  congress,  therefore,  would  authorise  a  small  tonnage  duty  on 
vessels  passing  through  the  coi  templated  canal,  to  be  exacted  by  this  state  until  the  debt 
created  to  complete  it,  shall  be  paid  off,  and  suffer  such  duty  to  be  continued  in  aid  of  the 
funds  set  apart  for  the  payment  of  the  canal  debt,  until  the  final  extinguishment  of  that 
debt,  it  would  be  an  object  mutually  beneficial  to  the  state  and  to  the  general  government; 
as  no  reasonable  doubt  can  be  entertained  but  that  the  arrangement  would  in  a  short  time 
eventuate  in  a  removal  of  the  duties  on  salt,  and  in  such  a  diminution  of  toll  as  would  re- 
quire a  sum,  sufficient  only  to  defray  the  repairs  and  other  expenses,  incident  to  the  use  of 
the  canal;  while  congress  at  the  same  time  would  obtain  an  additional  port  of  entry  of  con- 
siderable importance,  and  an  extensively  useful  national  improvement,  without  immediately 
resorting  to  the  public  funds  for  its  accomplishment.  If  it  should  be  deemed  expedient  to 
adopt  the  plan  of  a  lateral  ship  canal,  for  the  improvement  of  the  navigation  as  suggested 


496 


APPENDIX. 


in  the  report  alluded  to,  a  law  might  be  passed,  authorising  the  prosecution  of  the  work, 
upon  condition  that  the  assent  of  congress  to  the  collection  of  such  tonnage  duties  as  are 
specified  in  the  act,  should  first  be  obtained  by  the  commissioners  named  in  it,  to  conduct  the 
construction  of  the  canal. 


Note  FF.— p.  113. 

Letter  from  Nathaniel  H.  Carter,  Esq.  to  David  Hosack,  M.  D.  containing 
the  observations  of  the  Hon.  Rufus  King,  relative  to  the  talents  and  public 
services  of  Governor  Clinton. 

New-York,  October  28th,  1828. 

Dear  Sir, 

I  take  great  pleasure  in  complying  with  your  request,  to  state  the  sub- 
stance of  a  conversation  which  I  had  with  the  Hon.  Rufus  King,  at  his  resi- 
dence in  London,  on  the  24th  November,  1825,  respecting  the  late  Governor 
Clinton.  American  papers  had  just  reached  England,  containing  an  account 
of  the  Grand  Canal  celebration  on  the  completion  of  that  great  work,  and 
the  mingling  of  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie  with  the  ocean.  Mr.  King  appeared 
to  feel  as  lively  an  interest  as  myself  in  the  proceedings ;  and  in  his  remarks 
on  the  festival,  he  took  occasion  to  pronounce  a  high  and  flattering  eulogium 
upon  the  talents  and  public  services  of  Mr.  Clinton.  He  expressed  much 
satisfaction,  that  the  plans  of  that  illustrious  statesman  had  at  length  been 
fully  realised,  and  that  the  stupendous  enterprise  with  which  his  reputation 
was  identified,  had  been  crowned  with  complete  success.  He  rejoiced  that 
Mr.  Clinton  had  outlived  the  prejudices  and  passions  of  his  opponents,  and 
was  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  that  popularity  and  public  confidence  which  he 
had  so  justly  merited.  In  a  word,  Mr.  King  spoke  of  the  late  Governor  in 
terms  of  the  most  liberal  and  unqualified  praise.  This  conversation  made  a 
deep  impression  on  my  mind,  not  only  as  manifesting  the  opinions  and  feel- 
ings of  one  distinguished  individual  towards  another,  but  because  I  was  aware 
they  had  never  been  political  friends. 

I  am,  dear  Sir,  very  respectfully,  and  truly  yours, 

N.  H.  CARTER. 

Dr.  Dwiu  Hosack. 


APPENDIX. 


497 


Note  GG.  HII.  and  II.— p.  118. 

The  enemies  of  Governor  Clinton  have  frequently  adduced  the  charge 
against  him,  that  his  ambition  had  induced  him  to  claim  the  whole  merit  of 
having  originated  the  canal  policy  of  this  state.  His  answer  to  the  following 
address  from  the  citizens  of  Utica,  as  well  as  his  reply  to  the  address  from 
the  citizens  of  New-York  upon  his  removal  as  canal  commissioner,  abundantly 
vindicate  him  from  that  charge. 

Congratulatory  Address  to  Governor  Clinton,  delivered  by  George  Bacon,  in  behalf  of 
the  citizens  of  Utica,  on  the  3lst  October,  1835. 

In  behalf  of  the  citizens  of  the  village  of  Utica,  we  are  deputed  to  tender  to  your  excellency 
and  your  honour,  to  the  honourable  the  board  of  canal  commissioners,  and  to  the  various  re- 
spectable delegations  from  our  citizens  elsewhere,  who  have  honoured  us  with  their  presence 
on  this  auspicious  occasion,  our  heartfelt  gratulations  on  the  happy  consummation  of  a  great 
work,  which  is  destined  as  we  trust  to  form  a  memorable  epoch  in  the  annals  of  our  state, 
and  to  diffuse  countless  blessings  to  our  posterity  through  remote  generations. 

The  satisfaction  which  is  derived  on  beholding  the  triumph  of  a  vast  enterprise  of  public 
utility,  which  for  a  long  time  struggled  for  its  existence  against  the  heavy  tide  of  prejudice 
and  of  error,  is  at  once  the  richest  source  of  gratification,  and  the  highest  reward  to  a  liberal 
and  enlightened  mind. 

It  must  afford  the  most  consolatory  reflections  to  your  excellency  and  your  honour,  to  be 
able  to  realize  that  the  entire  completion  of  our  great  chain  of  inland  navigation,  will  form 
an  era  cotemporaneous  with  your  executive  administrations  of  the  concerns  of  this  rising 
state  ;  and  that  when  the  conflicting  passions  of  the  present  day  have  subsided,  and  the 
transient  interests  of  the  passing  moment  shall  have  lost  all  their  consequence,  the  great  and 
permanent  interests  connected  with  this  event,  will  be  identified  with  those  of  every  citizen 
of  the  state  ;  and  its  authors  and  projectors  enrolled  amongst  the  eminent  benefactors  of 
their  country. 

To  the  honourable  the  board  of  canal  commissioners,  and  to  all  those  distinguished  indi- 
viduals, (many  of  whom  with  a  Schuyler,  a  Morris,  and  a  Fulton,  now  rest  from  their  labours) 
whose  genius  has  contributed  to  the  projection,  or  whose  counsels  or  labours  have  aided  in 
the  erection  of  this  splendid  trophy  of  the  enterprise  and  energy  of  a  free  people,  we  tender 
the  deep  homage  of  a  people's  gratitude,  in  view  of  that  fortunate  and  glorious  result,  which 
we  are  this  day  brought  to  witness.    For  fortunate  indeed  must  that  citizen  be  considered, 


498 


APPENDIX. 


whose  talents  and  whose  services  have  in  any  degree  contributed  to  accomplish  that  which 
gives  him  a  lasting  title  to  the  gratitude  of  his  fellow-citizens,  and  whose  name  shall  be  as- 
sociated in  all  future  time,  with  a  work  surpassing  in  its  usefulness  to  mankind,  the  most 
imposing  structures  of  antiquity  ;  compared  with  which,  in  every  moral  and  essential  view, 
the  boasted  pyramids  of  Egypt,  and  the  mouldering  walls  of  the  Colosseum,  can  be  regarded 
but  as  splendid  playthings,  to  minister  to  the  pride  and  ambition  of  vain-glorious  power. 

Inhabitants  as  most  of  those  around  us  are,  of  a  district  of  country  which  less  than  half  a 
century  since,  had  hardly  felt  the  permanent  impress  of  a  civilized  footstep,  and  to  whose 
occupants  the  rude  barque  of  the  savage  then  furnished  the  only  idea  of  navigation  ;  we  re- 
ciprocate our  mutual  congratulations  that  we  have  lived  to  witness  even  at  our  doors,  an 
extent  of  navigable  communication  stretching  from  our  remotest  frontier,  to  the  great  com- 
mercial emporium  of  our  state,  equal  or  superior  for  all  practical  purposes,  to  the  first  navi- 
gable rivers  of  the  globe,  or  even  to  those  mighty  oceans  which  break  upon  either  shore  of 
our  magnificent  continent. 

As  fellow-citizens  of  this  most  populous  member  of  our  national  confederacy,  we  congratu- 
late you  all,  that  this  high  enterprise  has  been  commenced,  prosecuted  and  accomplished  by 
the  courage,  perseverance,  and  resources  of  our  state  alone,  unaided  by  the  capital  and  un- 
countenanced  by  the  encouragement  of  any  other  power,  either  foreign  or  domestic. 

And  by  a  yet  higher  and  more  enlarged  title,  as  Americans,  and  as  citizens  of  a  free  repre- 
sentative government,  we  congratulate  you  upon  the  decisive  evidence  which  this  imperisha- 
ble monument  will  furnish  to  a  doubting  world  of  the  sagacity,  wisdom,  and  energy  of  a  free 
people,  in  accomplishing,  without  a  burthen,  a  greater  national  work,  than  within  the  same 
period,  has  ever  been  effected  with  all  the  concentrated  force  of  the  most  unlimited  despo- 
tism. 

Neither  the  time  nor  the  occasion  justify  us  in  adding  further  to  these  brief  outlines  of  a 
picture,  which  no  American  patriot  can  contemplate,  without  an  emotion  of  honest  pride  ; 
and  no  friend  of  civil  freedom  without  an  increased  confidence  in  the  entire  sufficiency  of  our 
free  institutions  of  government,  to  secure  the  individual  welfare  of  its  citizens,  and  to  exalt 
and  sustain  the  lasting  glory  of  our  country. 

 "  Ever  may  the  All-just 

Give  to  the  cause  of  freedom  such  success." 

E.  BACON,  )  r  ... 

J.  C.  DEVEREUX,  \  Committee. 

To  which  Governor  Clinton  made  the  following  reply. 

Citizens  of  Utica  : — In  this  flourishing  village,  which  is  indebted  for  much  of  its  pros- 
perity, to  the  great  work  that  has  been  the  subject  of  your  eloquent  eulogium,  and  animated 


APPENDIX. 


49 


congratulation,  are  now  assembled  before  you,  representatives  from  our  great  city,  and  from 
the  rising  towns  of  the  west,  to  mingle  their  felicitations  with  yours,  and  to  proceed  to  our 
commercial  emporium,  rejoicing  in  the  great  consummation,  and  tendering  the  hand  of  con- 
gratulation in  their  transit  of  upwards  of  live  hundred  miles,  from  the  lakes  to  the  Atlantic 
ocean,  in  the  first  vessels  that  have  attempted  this  important  voyage. 

On  such  an  occasion,  so  worthy  the  spirit  of  patriotism,  so  animating  to  the  friends  of  re- 
publican government,  cold  and  insensible  must  be  that  heart  that  does  not  feel  the  force ; 
futile  and  feeble  must  be  that  understanding  which  does  not  recognise  the  weight  of  your 
remarks.  Indeed,  such  was  the  career  to  be  expected  from  the  members  of  this  enlightened 
and  public  spirited  community.  In  all  the  vicissitudes  which  have  marked  the  destinies  of 
this  work,  whether  in  evil  or  good  report,  whether  in  prosperous  or  adverse  fortunes,  the  citi- 
zens of  Utica  have  stood  firmly  and  fearlessly  at  their  posts,  its  decided  and  energetic  sup- 
porters, neither  turning  to  the  right  nor  to  the  left,  nor  changing  with  the  tides  and  currents 
of  public  opinion ;  but  vindicating,  fearlessly  and  independently,  the  great  interests  of  internal 
improvement.  And  you  can  enroll  in  your  numbers,  a  fellow-citizen,  whose  purity  of  cha- 
racter, elevation  of  purpose,  and  solidity  of  intellect,  are  entitled  to  the  highest  consideration. 
In  the  commencement  of  this  work,  he  was  a  prominent  and  efficient  friend,  and  when  it  had 
sunk,  irretrievably  sunk,  in  the  general  estimation,  he  was  greatly  instrumental  in  its  resus- 
citation, and  probably  prevented  its  final  overthrow.* 

For  the  good  which  has  been  done  by  individuals  or  communities,  in  relation  to  this  work, 
let  each  have  a  due  share  of  credit :  over  the  evil  which  has  been  perpetrated,  let  a  veil 
of  oblivion  be  drawn.  Let  the  unfriendly  feelings  which  have  sprung  from  those  collisions, 
be  merged  in  a  spirit  of  conciliation  and  kindness.  Let  the  dark  shades  of  the  past  be  ex- 
tinguished in  the  brilliant  enjoyment  of  the  present,  and  the  splendid  visions  of  the  future. 

Accept  our  sincere  thanks  for  the  manifestations  of  kindness,  always  gratifying  from  meri- 
torious sources,  and  particularly  so  on  the  present  occasion;  and  we  humbly  supplicate  the 
Creator  and  Father  of  the  Universe,  to  expand  your  prosperity,  with  the  prosperity  of  our 
beloved  country,  and  to  render  both  as  lasting  as  the  great  waters  that  are  now  connected 
by  the  most  important  communication,  and  most  stupendous  work  in  the  world. 


*  This  happy  and  appropriate  allusion  relates  to  Judge  Piatt,  who  was  an  early  and  active  friend  of 
the  great  system  of  internal  improvement,  and  who  in  the  hour  of  its  adversity,  came  forth  boldly  and 
fearlessly  in  its  support,  and  contributed  very  essentially  to  its  final  adoption  and  triumph. 


500 


APPENDIX. 


Note  JJ.— p.  119. 

Mr.  Clinton,  in  his  reply  to  the  committee  appointed  by  the  citizens  of 
New-York,  to  express  their  sentiments  relative  to  his  removal  as  a  canal  com- 
missioner, notices  the  important  services  that  had  been  rendered  by  the  sur- 
veyors and  engineers  in  exploring  and  examining  the  country,  and  in  the  per- 
formance of  the  duties  that  devolved  upon  them  in  their  several  capacities. 
While  the  labours  of  the  Surveyor-General,  James  Geddes,  and  Joseph  Elli- 
cott,  are  rewarded  and  gratefully  acknowledged  by  the  people  of  this  state, 
those  of  Judge  Wright  and  of  Canvas  White,  which  are  perhaps  less  exten- 
sively known,  will  more  fully  appear  in  the  following  communication,  with 
which  I  have  been  favoured,  in  reply  to  my  request  to  obtain  the  information 
it  conveys. 

Letter  from  Judge  Wright  to  David  Hosack,  M.  D. 

New- York,  Dec.  31,  1828. 

Dear  Sir, 

In  answer  to  your  favour  requesting  general  information  as  to  all  the  incidents  and  several 
transactions  in  which  I  took  a  part,  in  the  canal  policy  of  the  state  of  New-York,  and  also 
as  to  all  matters  relative  to  the  improvements  of  the  interior  navigation  of  the  state,  which 
had  taken  place  previous  to  the  state  commencing  operations  on  their  own  account,  I  with 
great  pleasure  give  you  all  within  my  knowledge. 

In  the  year  1791,  Major  Hardenburgh  came  to  Fort  Stanwix  (now  Rome)  to  make  a  sur- 
vey for  a  cut  or  canal,  (under  the  direction  of  the  Surveyor-General)  from  Mohawk  River  to 
Wood  Creek  ;  and  as  I  resided  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  was  then  a  country  surveyor  of 
new  lands,  he  sent  for  me  to  a?sist  in  running  certain  lines,  to  ascertain  distances  between 
certain  points,  in  order  to  get  a  correct  topography  of  the  country,  while  he  carried  on  his  level 
over  the  proposed  route. 

This  duty  was  performed  by  order  of  a  legislative  act  or  resolution  of  the  previous 
session. 

The  report  of  Major  Hardenburgh,  upon  his  whole  plan  and  estimate  of  expense,  can  be 
found,  no  doubt,  in  the  public  offices  at  Albany. 

Being  at  that  day  very  young  and  inexperienced  as  a  civil  engineer,  I  knew  nothing  at 
that  time  of  the  merits  of  his  plan.    I  can  now,  however,  perfectly  recollect  the  outlines, 


APPENDIX. 


501 


and  can  say  with  great  assurance,  that  the  project  was  only  one  of  those  temporary  expe- 
dients in  improvements  which  are  only  to  answer  for  a  short  period,  and  to  be  superseded  by 
more  durable,  permanent,  and  useful  works. 

Nothing  more  was  done  until  after  the  charter  granted  to  the  Western  Inland  Lock 
Navigation  Company  in  1792 — 93,  who  commenced  their  operation  at  the  Little  Falls,  on 
the  Mohawk  River.  After  completing  their  works  at  that  place,  they  commenced  opera- 
tions at  Fort  Stanwix.in  1796.  Mr.  William  Weston,  a  gentleman  from  England,  was  then 
the  engineer  employed  by  that  company. 

Being  at  this  time  engaged  in  surveying  large  tracts  of  new  lands  in  the  counties  of 
Oneida,  Oswego,  Jefferson,  and  Lewis,  I  took  no  part  in  any  of  the  operations  going  on 
under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Weston. 

After  Mr.  Weston  had  completed  the  improvements  at  Rome,  or  Fort  Stanwix,  and  a 
short  cut  and  two  locks  at  German  Flatts,  in  Herkimer  county,  which  was  completed  about 
the  year  1798 — 99,  he  soon  after  returned  to  England,  his  native  country. 

In  1802,  the  Western  Inland  Lock  Navigation  Company  determined  upon  improving  the 
navigation  of  Wood  Creek  from  near  Fort  Stanwix  to  a  small  tributary  stream  six  mile6 
westerly,  called  Little  Canada  Creek.  In  this  distance  there  was  a  descent  of  nearly  twenty- 
four  feet,  and  the  navigation  very  indifferent  and  troublesome.  The  plan  decided  upon  was 
by  means  of  dams  and  locks,  of  which  they  constructed  four  in  the  distance  above  mentioned. 
George  Huntington,  Esq.  of  Rome,  was  their  agent,  and  I  was  their  engineer. 

After  locating  and  determining  all  that  was  necessary  for  these  works,  the  gentlemen 
composing  the  board  of  directors,  of  which  General  Schuyler  was  president,  and  Robert 
Bowne  and  Thomas  Eddy  two  very  prominent  and  active  members,  were  so  well  satisfied 
with  my  manner  of  executing  the  duties  of  civil  engineer,  that  they  directed  me  to  make  a 
traverse  and  regular  survey,  ground  plan,  and  profile  of  the  Wood  Creek,  from  the  point  at 
Little  Canada  Creek,  before  mentioned  (where  the  improvements  of  1802  ended)  down  to 
the  Oneida  Lake,  where  Wood  Creek  empties  its  waters.  This  I  performed  in  the  spring 
of  1803. 

Immediately  on  completing  my  work  on  Wood  Creek,  and  returning  the  maps,  plans,  re- 
ports, &c.  I  received  further  directions  from  the  president  and  directors  to  commence  a  sur- 
vey of  the  Mohawk  River  from  Fort  Stanwix  to  Schenectady — "  taking  a  regular  traverse 
of  the  river,  so  as  to  show  all  its  windings,  its  breadth,  the  descent  in  eacli  rapid,  and  the 
descent  between  rapids,  the  depth  of  water  in  the  channel  at  each  rapid,  and  the  depth  in 
each  pool  between  rapids  at  its  lowest  summer  drought,  the  height  of  alluvial  banks  and 
all  other  remarks  and  observations  which  I  might  think  useful." — "  And  as  a  final  duty,  to 
strike  out  my  own  plan  of  improving  the  river  in  as  cheap  and  economical  a  manner  as  pos- 
sible, and  one  adapted  to  the  situation  and  circumstances  of  the  company." 

61 


502 


APPENDIX. 


This  duty  I  performed  in  1003,  by  recommending  a  compound  of  dams,  locks,  and  short 
canals,  so  as  to  make  a  slack  water  navigation  upon  the  cheapest  possible  and  useful  plan. 
Unfortunately  the  pecuniary  affairs  of  the  company  never  permitted  them  to  carry  any  part 
of  the  proposed  plan  into  effect. 

Things  remained  in  their  then  state  until  the  resolution  of  Judge  Forman,  in  February, 
1808,  in  the  Assembly,  he  being  at  that  time  a  member  from  Onondaga  county,  and  my- 
self a  member  from  Oneida.  We  roomed  together  in  company  with  General  McNiel,  a 
colleague  of  mine. 

Judge  Forman  and  myself  were  subscribers  to  Rees'  Cyclopedia,  and  we  received  that 
winter,  in  an  early  part  of  the  session,  the  sixth  volume  of  that  work,  containing  the  article 
"  Canal/'  We  also  read  a  long  and  able  report  published  in  a  newspaper, made  by  a  com- 
mittee of  the  legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  wherein  it  was  recommended  in  strong  terms, 
that  that  state  should  make  a  first-rate  road  from  some  proper  point  towards  Philadelphia, 
where  it  could  be  connected  with  an  existing  good  road,  and  carry  it  to  some  proper  point 
near  the  north  line  of  the  state,  where  it.  would  lead  to  what  was  then  called  the  "  Genesee 
country"  of  the  state  of  New-York,  and  urging  as  a  reason,  that  Philadelphia  was  so  much 
nearer  to  that  part  of  the  state  of  New-York  than  any  large  commercial  town  in  New-York 
state,  that  therefore  the  trade  might  be  directed,  and  would,  with  little  exertion,  centre  in 
Philadelphia,  from  all  that  part  of  New- York.  Tioga  Point  was  considered  as  the  place 
where  this  road  was  to  approach  the  New-York  line. 

Upon  reading  this,  Judge  Forman  observed  that  something  ought  to  be  done  to  prevent 
t  he  people  of  Pennsylvania  from  drawing  away  the  trade  of  our  state,  and  suggested  that  as 
Mr.  Jefferson,  the  then  President  of  the  United  States,  had  recommended  the  surplus  monies 
in  the  treasury  to  be  expended  on  roads  and  canals,  he  was  for  making  a  canal  to  Lake 
Erie.  I  told  him  I  could  give  him  much  light  upon  the  matter,  as  far  as  Oneida  Lake,  as  I 
had  surveyed  and  levelled  over  all  between  Schenectady  and  Oneida  Lake,  and  knew  well 
the  country  between  the  Oneida  Lake  and  Lake  Ontario  at  Oswego.  Judge  Forman  ob- 
served, that  he  was  for  going  directly  to  Lake  Erie  without  touching  Lake  Ontario  ;  and 
after  conversing  a  while,  he  proposed  a  resolution  which  he  would  introduce,  and  I  agreed 
to  second  it.  He  accordingly  introduced  it,  and  being  a  joint  resolution,  it  laid  upon  the  table 
one  day,  according  to  rule. 

I  well  recollect  the  surprise  and  astonishment  of  many  members,  and  by  whose  look  and 
manner  it  was  easily  seen  that  they  considered  it  a  wild,  visionary  project,  but  after  convers- 
ing with  many  of  them,  they  rather  wished  the  information  which  the  resolution,  if  acted 
upon,  would  elicit ;  bHt  when  a  clause  was  introduced  into  the  supply  bill  making  an  appro- 
priation for  the  expense,  it  was  filled  with  one  thousand  dollars  in  the  assembly,  and  when 
it  went  into  the  senate,  they  reduced  it  to  six  hundred  dollars,  which  was  all  that  could  be 
obtained.    This  was  to  be  expended  under  the  direction  of  the  Surveyor- General.  He 


APPENDIX. 


503 


employed  Judge  Geddes,  who  resided  at  Onondaga,  and  had  a  better  local  knowledge  of  the 
part  of  the  country  then  to  be  examined,  than  perhaps  any  other  person,  as  he  had  been  a 
suiyeyor  of  lands  for  many  years. 

Judge  Geddes  spent  the  season  of  1808,  and  part  of  1809,  in  obtaining  information;  and 
the  local  knowledge  he  obtained  for  the  above  sum,  together  with  seventy  dollars  in  addi- 
tion, led  to  a  final  plan  of  what  could  be  done  as  to  a  canal  from  Lake  Erie  through  the 
country,  without  going  into  Ontario. 

Things  remained  without  further  acts  or  examination,  until  the  formation  qf  a  board  of 
commissioners  of  seven,  in  the  session  of  the  legislature  of  1810,  when  Governeur  Morris,  De 
Witt  Clinton,  Thomas  Eddy,  Simeon  De  Witt,  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  William  North,  and 
Peter  B.  Porter,  were  appointed,  and  made  their  excursion  and  examination  through  the  west- 
ern part  of  the  state.  This  year,  1810, 1  took  no  part  in  the  examination,  as  my  engagements 
on  the  St.  Lawrence  confined  me  to  that  part  of  the  country  nearly  the  whole  season. 

This  examination  of  the  commissioners,  resulted  in  their  famous  report  of  an  inclined 
plane  from  Lake  Erie  to  near  Albany.  This  plan  of  the  inclined  plane  was  not  approved  of 
by  public  opinion,  and  further  examination  took  place  in  1811.  In  this  year  I  was  directed 
to  make  an  examination  on  the  north  side  of  the  Mohawk  River,  from  Rome  to  Water- 
ford,  on  the  Hudson.  My  instructions  and  report,  are  in  Appendix  to  Canal  Documents, 
Vol.  I.  p.  531. 

In  1812, 1  received  instructions  to  examine  the  country  from  Seneca  Lake  to  Rome,  and 
from  thence  on  the  south  side  of  the  Mohawk  River  to  Albany.  My  instructions  directed 
me  to  pursue  a  level  from  Rome,  ten  feet  below  the  level  of  the  old  canal  at  tlrft  place,  and 
carry  that  level  to  Seneca  River  near  Montezuma.  This  I  did  ;  but  it  was  found  to  be  too 
crooked  and  serpentine,  and  the  distance  increased  so  much  more  than  the  present  plan,  as 
it  is  now  executed,  that  it  was  abandoned. 

My  instructions  from  Rome  eastward,  along  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk  and  thence  to 
Albany,  were  to  strike  out  such  plan  for  a  canal  as  I  thought  best.  In  this  examination  it 
became  very  important  for  me  to  find  out  how  a  canal  could  be  carried  over  the  Pine 
Plains  between  Schenectady  and  Albany,  and  I  searched  and  examined  every  part  of  this 
plain,  and  levelled  over  it  in  different  directions,  between  Troy  and  Schenectady,  between 
Albany  and  up  the  Patroon  Creek,  through  the  Shaker  settlement  at  Niskayuna.  Also  be- 
tween the  valley  of  the  Mohawk  near  Schenectady,  and  Norman's  Kill,  which  falls  into  the 
Hudson  two  miles  below  Albany.  In  this  examination  I  found  every  part  of  this  plain  ele- 
vated from  130  to  200  feet  above  the  Mohawk  at  Schenectady. 

My  report,  accompanied  by  maps  and  profiles  for  the  year  1812,  was  very  full.  They  are, 
I  believe,  lost,  as  I  have  never  been  able  to  find  them  since.  The  war  having  commenced, 
nothing  more  wag  done  until  1816,  when  the  act  passed  forming  a  new  board  of  commis- 
sioners, and  appropriating  20,000  dollars  to  make  surveys  and  estimates.    That  part  of  the 


504  APPENDIX. 

line  between  Rome  and  Seneca  River  was  assigned  to  me ;  and  the  report  of  the  canal 
commissioners  of  1817,  gives  a  copy  of  my  report  and  estimate  of  expense  of  that  part  of 
the  canal.  In  the  session  of  1817,  the  work  was  authorised  to  commence  ;  and  the  middle 
section,  as  it  was  called,  was  put  under  my  charge,  extending  from  Utica  to  Seneca  River  at 
Montezuma. 

I  was  at  the  head  of  the  engineers  while  this  work  was  going  on  and  until  completed ; 
and  then  the  work  from  Seneca  River  westerly,  to  Genesee  River,  was  under  my  direction ; 
and  when  this  was  laid  out  and  in  progress,  the  eastern  division  from  Utica  to  Albany  was 
commenced,  and  I  had  the  charge  of  that  part  also  until  completed  in  1823. 

Here  it  is  proper  that  I  should  render  a  just  tribute  of  merit  to  a  gentleman  who  now 
stands  high  in  his  profession,  and  whose  skill  and  sound  judgment  as  a  civil  engineer  is  not 
surpassed,  if  equalled,  by.  any  other  in  the  United  States.  The  gentleman  to  whom  I  refer, 
is  Canvass  White,  Esq.  Mr.  White  commenced  as  my  pupil  in  1816,  by  carryiugthe  tar- 
get ;  he  took  an  active  part  through  that  year,  and  through  1817.  In  the  fall  of  the  latter 
year,  he  made  a  voyage  to  England  on  his  own  account,  and  purchased  for  the  state  several 
levelling  instruments,  of  which  we  stood  much  in  need.  He  returned  in  the  spring,  and  brought 
back  much  valuable  information  which  he  has  usefully  diffused,  and  greatly  to  the  benefit 
of  the  state  of  New-York.  To  this  gentleman  I  could  always  apply  for  counsel  and  advice 
in  any  great  and  difficult  case :  and  to  his  sound  judgment  in  locating  the  line  of  canal  in  much 
of  the  difficult  part  of  the  route,  the  people  of  this  state  are  under  obligations  greater  than  is 
generally  known  or  appreciated. 

These,  my  dear  sir,  are  the  outlines  of  all  the  incidents  relating  to  the  improvements  by 
canal  or  river  navigation  in  New- York,  in  which  I  took  part,  excepting  a  map  and  general 
plan  of  the  country  from  Albany  to  Oswego,  on  Lake  Ontario,  showing  the  topography  and 
connection  of  the  waters,  and  remarks  and  observations  thereon,  which  I  made  by  request  of 
George  Huntington,  Esq.  to  whom  Mr.  Gallatin  applied  in  1807  for  information;  this  was 
forwarded  by  Mr.  Huntington. 

There  are  many  little  things  which  have  taken  place,  by  correspondence  with  various 
persons  touching  these  subjects,  which  are  not  material  to  your  views. 

With  great  respect  and  esteem, 

I  am,  dear  sir,  truly  your  obedient  servant, 

BENJAMIN  WRIGHT. 

Dr.  David  Hosack. 


APPENDIX. 


505 


Note  KK. — p.  124. 
Meeting  of  the  Bar  in  New-  York. 

Immediately  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Clinton,  public  meetings  of  the  learned 
professions,  and  of  almost  every  class  of  citizens,  were  called  to  express  their 
sense  of  the  loss  sustained  by  his  demise,  and  their  respect  for  his  memory. 
The  members  of  the  profession  of  the  law  in  the  cities  of  Albany,  New-York, 
and  other  parts  of  the  state,  were  severally  convened  to  bear  their  testimony 
to  the  merits  of  the  deceased. 

Court  of  Common  Pleas. 

The  court  commenced  its  usual  sittings  to-day,  and  was  opened  at  1 1  o'clock  by  His  Hon. 
Judge  Irving,  who  addressed  the  gentlemen  of  the  bar  who  were  present,  as  follows  : 

As  the  bar  of  this  city  will  assemble  in  this  court  room  to-day,  at  twelve  o'clock,  to  express 
their  sense  of  the  loss  which  this  state  has  sustained  in  the  decease  of  its  late  Governor,  who 
has  so  suddenly  been  called  from  a  life  of  great  worth,  and  public  usefulness;  the  court  duly 
appreciating  such  services,  and  such  loss,  is  adjourned  until  eleven  o'clock  to-morrow  morning. 

At  a  numerous  meeting  of  the  members  of  the  New-York  Bar,  assembled 
in  the  Supreme  Court-room  of  the  City-Hall,  on  motion  of  Josiah  Ogden 
Hoffman,  Esq.  Chancellor  Kent  was  appointed  chairman  of  the  meeting,  and 
Silvanus  Miller,  Esq.  was  appointed  secretary. 

Mr.  Hoffman  then  moved  the  following  preamble  and  resolutions. 

The  members  of  the  bar  of  the  city  of  New- York,  assembled  to  express  their  sense  of  the 
public  calamity  occasioned  by  the  death  of  De  Witt  Clinton,  resolved  unanimously  : — 

That  they  deeply  unite  in  the  voice  of  sorrow  this  afflicting  dispensation  has  called  forth, 
not  only  from  the  hearts  of  his  family  and  friends,  but  from  public  bodies,  scientific,  religious 
and  charitable  institutions,  the  tribunals  of  justice,  and  the  legislative  councils  of  the  state, 
who  each  felt  a  portion  of  its  character  and  usefulness  identified  with  his  name,  and  each  of 
which  mourns  the  loss  as  peculiarly  its  own. 

That  the  death  of  such  a  man  in  the  fulness  of  his  acquirements,  the  strength  of  his  intel- 
lect, and  when  his  country  anticipated  still  further  exertions  for  its  welfare  and  happiness,  of 
which  the  present  and  enduring  monuments  of  his  genius  and  constancy  had  afforded  full 
assurance,  is  a  bereavement  greatly  deplored  by  the  state  he  exalted,  and  the  age  he  adorned. 


506  APPENDIX. 

Resolved,  That  the  bar  of  this  city,  as  a  tribute  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  the  deceased, 
and  in  testimony  of  their  heartfelt  regret,  will  wear  mourning  during  the  present  session  of 
the  legislature. 

Resolved,  That  the  proceedings  of  this  meeting  be  signed  by  the  chairman  and  secretary, 
and  published  in  the  different  newspapers. 

Mr.  Griffin  seconded  the  resolutions,  and  in  the  following  brief  but  eloquent  address,  ad- 
verted to  the  public  and  private  virtues  of  his  Excellency  the  Governor. 

Mr.  Chairman  : — It  is  no  ordinary  death  that  has  called  us  together.  When  such  an  in- 
dividual as  a  Canning  or  a  Clinton  dies,  we  mourn,  not  as  members  of  a  particular  profession, 
or  a  particular  community,  but  as  members  of  the  great  family  of  man.  It  is  a  bereaved 
world  that  feels  the  loss. 

Our  lamented  Clinton  was  a  character  whom  the  worthies  of  antiquity  would  cheerfully 
have  named  as  a  brother.  Possessed  of  a  peculiarly  commanding  person,  and  a  more  com- 
manding mind — a  mind  richly  stored  with  the  treasures  of  ancient  and  modern  learning,  and 
animated  by  an  ambition  lofty  and  inflexible,  it  is  true,  yet  identified  with  the  glory  of  his 
country, — wise  in  deliberation,  unbending  in  purpose,  determined  in  action, — nature  and 
education  formed  him  to  be  one  of  the  master-spirits  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived.  The 
Pericles  of  our  commonwealth,  for  near  thirty  years  he  exercised,  without  stooping  to  the 
little  arts  of  popularity,  an  intellectual  dominion  in  his  native  state  scarcely  inferior  to  that 
of  the  illustrious  Athenian — a  dominion  as  benignant  as  it  was  effective.  He  was  the  sup- 
porter of  every  charitable  and  religious  institution — the  encourager  of  every  science  and 
every  art.  Not  confining  his  literary  patronage  to  the  artist  and  the  scholar,  he  also  devoted 
the  powers  of  his  mighty  mind  to  the  less  brilliant,  but  not  less  useful,  subject  of  common 
education.  Feeling  the  truth  of  the  great  political  axiom,  that  virtue  and  information,  widely 
diffused,  are  the  only  sure  pillars  of  a  republican  government,  he  zealously  promoted  every 
object  calculated  to  meliorate  the  moral  condition  of  the  state,  and  laboured,  with  untiring 
assiduity,  to  irradiate  the  general  mind  with  the  light  of  knowledge. 

About  eighteen  years  ago,  the  then  unformed  project  of  our  great  canal,  was  whispered  by 
some  supposed  enthusiast.  The  intimation  reached  the  ear  of  our  departed  statesman.  It 
was  a  subject  worthy  of  his  mind  :  his  perception  intuitive,  bold,  and  comprehensive,  saw 
it  in  all  its  bearings.  If  the  enterprise  should  fail,  it  must,  as  he  well  knew,  bring  bankruptcy 
on  the  state,  and  ruin  on  its  patron.  Timidity  bade  him  desist ; — cold  and  calculating  policy 
cautioned  him  to  stand  aloof  until  the  success  of  the  experiment  was  tried.  But  he  was  not 
a  timid,  nor  a  cold  calculating  politician.  He  foresaw  that  the  enterprise,  if  successful,  would 
crown  the  commonwealth  with  unparalleled  prosperity  and  imperishable  glory.  Knowing 
that  nothing  could  give  it  a  chance  of  success  but  the  influence  of  his  own  great  name,  he 
cheerfully  and  cordially  perilled  his  earthly  hopes  on  the  issue  of  the  dubious  undertak- 


APPENDIX. 


507 


ing.  He  became  its  avowed  patron  ;  and  regardless  of  the  despondency  of  the  timid,  and 
the  cavils  of  the  prejudiced,  with  an  inflexibility  of  purpose,  and  a  disintcrestednessof  motive, 
worthy  of  the  proudest  page  of  Roman  story,  he  continued  for  fifteen  years  its  indefatigable 
and  efficient,  though  unremunerated,  guardian  and  protector.  But,  thanks  to  the  great  Dis- 
poser of  events,  he  lived  to  witness  its  complete  success  ; — to  see,  under  his  own  auspices,  in 
spite  of  the  obstacles  interposed  by  nature  and  the  greater  obstacles  interposed  by  man,  the 
inland  oceans  of  the  west,  conducted  in  proud  triumph  to  the  bosom  of  the  deep,  and  the  pros- 
perity of  his  country  rendered  as  enduring  as  its  rivers  and  its  lakes. 

Such  is  the  man  whom  our  state  may  well  bewail.  Such  is  the  man  who  has  sunk  in  the 
midst  of  his  renown.  But  his  fame  survives  ;  it  belongs  to  posterity.  The  American  his- 
torian will  transmit  it  to  succeeding  generations,  brightening  as  it  descends,  and  encompassed 
with  ablaze  of  glory,  perhaps  only  inferior  to  that  of  the  Father  of  his  country. 

The  resolutions  were  then  put  by  the  chairman,  and  unanimously  adopted. 

JAMES  KENT,  Chairman. 
SILVANUS  MILLER,  Secretary. 


Note. — p.  125. 

Upon  no  occasion  were  the  sensibility  and  agitation  of  Mr.  Clinton,  in  the 
delivery  of  his  public  discourses  here  referred  to,  more  manifested  than  in  his 
oration  pronounced  at  the  request  of  the  Alumni  of  Columbia  College  in  1827. 
Having  obtained  an  analysis  of  that  Discourse,  from  the  editors  of  the  Commer- 
cial Advertiser,  to  whom,  on  the  day  of  its  delivery,  Mr.  Clinton  loaned  the 
manuscript,  I  have  it  in  my  power  to  present  to  the  public  the  following 
outline  of  that  production,  and  the  remarks  which  accompanied  it. 

Analysis  of  Governor  Clinton's  Discourse  delivered  before  the  Alumni  of  Columbia 
College. 

The  third  anniversary  of  the  associated  Alumni  of  Columbia  College,  was  celebrated 
yesterday,  (May  3.)  The  hour  for  the  delivery  of  the  address  was  twelve  o'clock,  and  the 
chapel  of  the  College,  including  the  galleries,  was  punctually  filled  by  a  fashionable  assem- 
blage of  ladies  and  gentlemen,  including  the  faculty  of  the  College,  the  trustees,  students, 
residents,  graduates,  &c.  The  exercises  were  commenced  with  an  appropriate  prayer  by  the 
Reverend  Professor  M'Vickar. 


508 


APPENDIX. 


His  Excellency  Governor  Clinton  then  rose  and  pronounced  a  discourse  which  occupied 
nearly  an  hour,  and  was  listened  to  with  deep  interest  and  uninterrupted  attention.  The 
subject  of  his  address,  was  a  rapid  history  of  the  rise,  progress,  and  present  condition  of  his 
Alma  Mater,  interspersed  with  notices  of  its  officers  and  professors,  and  some  of  the  more 
prominent  men  whose  names  adorn  its  catalogue  of  graduates,  and  concluding  with  some 
happy  thoughts  upon  the  state  of  education  in  our  country,  and  suggestions  for  its  extension 
and  improvement. 

In  his  preliminary  remarks,  the  distinguished  orator  first  adverted  to  the  pleasures  and  ad- 
vantages of  intellectual  communities,  in  the  republic  of  letters ;  more  especially  of  those 
votaries  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  disciples  of  the  same  great  seminary,  who  have  derived  their 
mental  aliment  from  a  common  parent,  and  who  have  received  their  education  from  the 
same  source.  Speaking  of  the  present  occasion,  he  said  he  knew  of  no  assemblage  better 
calculated  so  to  awaken  the  enthusiasm  of  their  youthful  days,  and  to  brighten  the  rays  of 
their  setting  sun,  than  a  convention  of  the  members  of  three  generations  under  the  protect- 
ing roof  of  their  Alma  Mater,  at  the  altars  of  science  and  literature— to  recall  to  their 
recollections  the  transporting  scenes  of  their  youthful  collegiate  lives,  and  to  realise  and 
renew  those  friendships  which  were  formed  in  youth,  and  will  last  as  long  as  the  pulsations  of 
the  heart,  and  the  operations  of  memory. 

In  commencing  the  principal  subject  of  the  discourse,  the  orator  quoted  the  continuation 
of  Smith's  History  of  New-York,  which  has  lately  been  given  to  the  world  by  the  historical 
Society  of  this  city.  The  germ  of  the  college  was  a  Free  School,  established  in  1732,  for 
teaching  the  Latin  and  Greek  tongues,  and  the  practical  branches  of  mathematics,  under  the 
care  of  Mr.  Alexander  Malcolm,  of  Aberdeen.  The  enterprise  was  patronised  by  the  Mor- 
ris family,  Mr.  Alexander,  and  Mr.  Smith,  who  petitioned  the  assembly  upon  the  subject. 
Such  was  the  negligence  of  the  day,  that  the  teacher  could  not  find  bread  from  the  volun- 
tary contributions  of  the  inhabitants,  although  examples  had  been  set  in  New-England, 
where  colleges  had  been  endowed  early  in  the  last  century.  .The  bill  for  founding  this 
school  was  brought  in  by  Mr.  Delancey,  and  had  this  singular  preamble  : — "  Whereas,  the 
youth  of  this  colony  are  found  by  manifold  experience  to  be  not  inferior  in  their  natural 
geniuses  to  those  of  any  other  country  in  the  world,  Therefore  be  it  enacted,"  &c.  From 
this  the  orator  remarked  that  even  at  that  early  period  it  was  thought  necessary  to  vindicate 
our  country  against  the  degenerating  and  debasing  qualities  which  have  since  been  so  libe- 
rally imputed  to  it  by  Buffon,  Robertson,  and  others.  In  touching  upon  these  puny  efforts 
of  flimsy  philosophers,  however,  the  orator  wished  permission  to  say  that  he  could  not  re- 
concile the  sensibility  which  we  have  manifested  under  such  vituperations,  with  the  respect 
which  we  owe  to  our  country ;  charges  so  unfounded  being  beneath  the  dignity  of  refuta- 
tion.   The  country  which  has  been  called  the  land  of  swamps,  of  yellow  fever,  and  universal 


APPENDIX. 


suffrage,  requires  no  advocate  but  truth,  and  no  friend  but  justice,  to  place  it  at"  tlie  highest 
elevation  of  triumphant  vindication. 

The  school  was  the  harbinger  of  more  enlarged  views,  and  more  elevated  establishments  ; 
and  at  length,  in  1754,  the  charter  of  King's  College  was  obtained.  In  four  years  after- 
wards it  was  sufficiently  matured  to  confer  degrees.  The  city  then  contained  but  10,000 
inhabitants,  and  the  whole  colony  but  half  the  population  of  the  city  of  New- York  at  the 
present  day.  The  faculty  was  composed  of  very  able  men ;  but  after  a  brief  career  of 
eighteen  years,  during  which  about  one  hundred  degrees  were  conferred,  the  college  was 
broken  up  by  the  American  Revolution.  On  a  rapid  inspection  of  the  catalogue  of  this 
period,  the  orator  said  he  was  persuaded  that  the  truth  of  the  legislative  preamble  was 
clearly  established,  and  that  in  no  period  of  time,  nor  in  any  country,  had  an  institution 
existed,  so  fertile  of  enlightened  and  able  men,  within  so  short  a  time,  and  among  so  small  a 
population. 

The  orator  next  proceeded  to  notice  some  of  the  most  prominent  of  these  men,  among 
whom  were  Samuel  Provost,  Samuel  Seabury,  Benjamin  Moore,  Isaac  Wilkins,  and  others. 
The  three  first  of  these  attained  the  honours  of  the  mitre  ;  and  Wilkins  was  a  distinguished 
writer  at  the  commencement  of  the  revolution.  Among  the  enlightened  jurists  who  sprung 
from  this  institution  within  the  period  before  spoken  of,  the  names  of  John  Jay,  Robert  R. 
Livingston,  Gouverneur  Morris,  Richard  Harison,  Peter  Van  Schaick,  and  Robert  Troup, 
were  mentioned  "  with  pride  and  pleasure.  ''  The  three  first  were  distinguished  in  the  public 
councils  at  the  commencement  of  the  revolution ;  Livingston  was  one  of  the  committee  which 
drafted  the  Declaration  of  Independence  ;  Jay  took  a  leading  part  in  the  celebrated  state 
papers  which  emanated  from  the  old  congress,  which  drew  forth  the  celebrated  panegyric 
from  the  great  Chatham,  and  which  Johnson,  the  colossus  of  British  literature,  undertook  to 
answer.  After  paying  a  high  tribute  to  the  talents,  learning,  character  and  services  of  the 
great  men  above  named  respectively,  the  name  of  "  that  great  man,"  Hamilton,  was  intro- 
duced, who  was  a  student  of  this  college  before  the  revolution,  but  before  he  could  obtain  his 
academic  honours  it  was  broken  up.  In  speaking  of  this  distinguished  patriot,  the  orator  re- 
lated an  anecdote,  at  once  illustrative  of  his  amiable  disposition,  his  firmness,  and  his  inde- 
pendence. He  was  greatly  attached  to  his  preceptor,  President  Cooper,  who  favoured  the 
royal  cause.  The  peace  of  the  city  was  troubled  by  the  conflicts  of  contending  parties.  A 
mob  collected  before  the  college  door,  and  had  marked  Dr.  Cooper  out  as  an  object  of 
aggression.  Hamilton  threw  himself  between  the  people  and  his  preceptor,  addressed  the 
former  from  the  vestibule  of  the  building,  and  delayed  their  progress  until  his  friend  had  time 
to  escape  from  their  fury. 

Of  learning,  said  the  orator,  it  may  be  remarked  as  of  law : — "  Inter  arma  leges  rilet." — 
In  the  revolutionary  conflict,  the  interests  of  education  were  almost  entirely  neglected.  The 

62 


510 


APPENDIX. 


college  was  broken  up,  the  building  converted  into  an  hospital,  and  the  only  classical  school, 
to  whicli  young  men  could  repair  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge,  was  the  Academy  at  Kingston. 

Having  thus  taken  a  distant  view  of  this  institution,  the  orator  proceeded  to  sketch  its  late 
history — a  task  gratifying  at  once  to  the  pride  and  filial  affection  of  the  alumni.  The  war 
of  independence  over,  the  attention  of  our  statesmen  and  patriots  was  directed  to  the  revival 
of  letters,  and  the  establishment  of  the  temple  of  freedom  upon  the  foundation  of  knowledge. 
In  1784,  the  board  of"  Regents  of  the  University''  was  established,  clothed  with  a  superin- 
tending power  over  Columbia  College,  and  all  future  colleges  and  academies.  This  board 
was  composed  of  the  principal  officers  of  the  government,  and  of  distinguished  citizens. 
On  the  1 7th  of  May  of  that  year,  the  first  student  was  admitted  into  the  college  under  the 
new  order  of  things.  The  board  of  regents  personally  attended  at  the  examination  of  the 
candidates  for  admission  ;  and,  the  speaker  said,  he  might,  perhaps,  without  the  imputation 
of  vanity,  be  permitted  to  remark,  that'he  was  the  first  student,  so  examined,  and  among  the 
first  graduates.  Instructors  were  appointed,  and  apartments  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
college  were  furnished  in  the  old  City  Hall,  until  the  college  building  was  refitted  for  use. 
No  president  was  appointed  for  some  years  afterwards,  and  it  was  deemed  expedient  to  resort 
to  Europe  for  teachers.  William  Cochran,  a  native  of  Ireland,  and  an  alumnus  of  Trinity 
College,  Dublin,  was  appointed  Professor  of  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages  ;  and  John  Kemp, 
graduate  of  Marischal  College,  Aberdeen,  Professor  of  Mathematics,  and  afterwards  of  Natural 
Philosophy. — The  Rev.  Dr.  Moore,  afterwards  Bishop,  was  appointed  Professor  of  Rhetoric 
and  Logic  ;  Dr.  J.  D.  Gros,  a  German  by  birtli  and  education,  Professor  of  the  German  Lan- 
guage and  Geography,  and  afterwards  of  Moral  Philosophy.  Dr.  Samuel  Bard,  who  had  been 
professor  of  the  theory  and  practice  of  medicine  under  the  royal  charter,  undertook  to  fill, 
temporarily,  the  office  of  Natural  Philosophy  and  Astronomy.  The  speaker  took  a  rapid  sketch 
of  the  character  and  attainments  of  each  of  the  professors,  and  his  notices  of  Dr.  G  ros  and  Dr. 
Bard  were  highly  interesting.  The  former  had  emigrated  to  this  country  before  the  war, 
and  resided  upon  the  frontier,  where  in  those  times  of  peril  and  alarm,  he  stood  forth  with  the 
bible  in  one  hand  and  the  sword  in  the  other,  in  the  united  character  of  patriot  and  chris- 
tian, vindicating  the  libert  ies  of  mankind.  An  exalted  tribute  of  praise  was  bestowed  upon 
the  memory  of  Dr.  Bard,  of  whom  it  was  said — '•  as  long  as  literature  has  a  friend,  and  science 
an  advocate,  the  name  of  Samuel  Bard  will  be  identified  with  some  of  the  best  and  wisest 
measures  to  spread  the  benefits  of  the  healing  art,  to  diffuse  the  lights  of  knowledge,  and 
subserve  the  essential  interests  of  our  country."  Glancing  along  in  reference  to  the  new 
and  prosperous  career  of  the  college,  the  names  of  Peter  Wilson,  and  Dr.  Henry  Moyes, 
were  introduced  :  the  former,  eminent  for  his  learning,  was  appointed  Professor  of  Latin  and 
Greek,  and  the  latter  of  Natural  History  and  Chemistry.  Dr.  Moyes  was  blind,  yet  his 
lectures  were  popular,  and  he  had  the  merit  of  sowing  the  first  seeds  of  this  science  in  our 
country,  redeemed  from  the  follies  of  Alchemy,  the  visions  of  elixirs  and  transmutations,  and 
founded  on  the  experimental  science  of  Bacon. 


APPENDIX. 


51 1 


In  17G7,  the  regents  were  divested  of  the  immediate  government  of  the  colleges  and 
academies,  and  the  same  was  intrusted  to  boards  of  trustees.  In  178G,  the  first  commence- 
ment was  held,  and  the  first  degrees  conferred.  The  population  of  the  city  was  then  2-1,000 
— it  is  now  180,000.  The  population  of  the  whole  state  has  multiplied  in  the  same  ratio, 
which,  by  a  singular  coincidence,  is  the  fact  with  regard  to  the  cities  of  London  and  Phila- 
delphia. 

After  review  ing  the  career  of  the  college,  and  speaking  of  its  increasing  numbers  and 
extending  usefulness,  notwithstanding  the  many  difficulties  it  has  had  to  encounter  from  pre- 
established  colleges,  on  each  side  (Yale  and  Nassau  Hall) — from  rival  institutions,  and  from 
sectarian  jealousy — the  speaker  remarked  that  it  is  since  the  college  has  been  under  profes- 
sors of  native  growth,  that  it  has  experienced  its  present  fulness  ofprosperity.  And  although 
he  expressed  his  perfect  contempt  of  unworthy  prejudices  against  foreigners,  yet  he  gave  his 
strong  and  decided  preference  for  native  teachers  :  not  from  any  defects  of  their  character, 
or  education,  but  because  they  do  not  understand  the  American  character — nay,  reside  here 
for  years,  and  yet  remain  as  ignorant  of  it  as  when  they  first  landed  on  our  shores.  The 
sturdy  spirit  of  liberty  which  distinguishes  our  youth,  will  not  tolerate  the  stern  infliction  of 
exotic  discipline.  The  president,  and  all  the  professors  of  the  college,  are  now  indigenous 
plants,  and  their  talents  and  powers  of  instruction,  are  felt  in  the  flourishing  state  of  the 
institution.  Never  did  it  stand  on  higher  ground,  and  never  were  its  prospects  more  brilliant. 
And  he  argued  that  from  the  numerous  advantages  of  its  location;  the  facilities  of  access  to 
the  city  from  every  direction ;  its  rapid  growth,  and  the  prospect  that  it  will  within  a  cen- 
tury, extend  over  the  whole  island  and  the  adjacent  shores,  the  institution  must  continue  to 
grow  and  flourish — unless  some  extraordinary  calamity  should  derange  the  natural  course  of 
events,  and  blight  its  fairest  prospects — until  Columbia  College  shall  stand  upon  an  equal 
footing  with  the  most  celebrated  universities  of  the  old  world. 

The  speaker  next  adverted  to  the  means  of  education  now  in  successful  operation  in  this 
state.  We  have  four  colleges,  containing  437  students  ;  thirty-three  incorporated  acade- 
mies, containing  2,440  students;  8144  common  schools,  in  which  431,601  persons  are 
receiving  instruction :  and  the  pupils  in  private  institutions  it  is  computed  will  swell  this 
number  to  at  least  460,000.  From  the  apex  to  the  base  of  this  glorious  pyramid  of 
intellectual  improvement,  we  perceive  an  intimacy  of  connexion,  an  identity  of  interest,  a 
unanimity  of  action  and  re-action,  a  system  of  reciprocated  benefits,  that  cannot  but  fill  us 
with  joy,  and  make  us  proud  of  our  country.  The  National  School  Society  of  Great  Britain, 
educates  but  300,000  children  annually  ;  and  while  it  is  cause  of  exultation  that  there  is  no 
state  or  country  that  can  vie  with  our  common  school  establishment,  the  orator  expressed 
his  regret  that  as  much  could  not  be  said  of  the  merits  of  its  teachers.  Upon  this  part  of  his 
subject,  the  Governor  made  a  number  of  valuable  suggestions  in  regard  to  our  want  of  a  corps 
of  educated  instructors,  of  gratuitous  instruction  in  our  colleges  and  academies,  &c.  Some 


512 


APPENDIX. 


of  the  considerations  here  presented,  have  repeatedly  been  pressed  upon  the  attention  of  the 
Legislature,  but  unfortunately  with  very  little  effect.  The  conclusion  of  this  part  of  the 
theme  was  so  happy,  that  we  will  quote  the  passage  entire  . — "  The  dii  minorum  of  learn- 
ing, ought  to  be  elevated  in  the  scale  of  public  estimation  and  intellectual  endowment ;  for 
from  their  hands  the  rude  materials  of  the  mind  must  receive  their  first  polish  of  usefulness 
and  improvement ;  and  their  depots  of  instruction,  like  the  speaking  bird  of  Asiatic  fiction, 
which  gathers  around  it  all  the  singing  birds  of  the  land,  ought  to  contain  all  the  youth  of  our 
country  who  are  fit  for  improvement.  Like  the  indicator  of  ornithology,  that  leads  the  way 
to  the  collected  honey  of  the  forest,  they  must  and  will  conduct  us  to  the  highest  enjoyment  of 
knowledge.  They  will  act  to  us  as  pioneers  to  delights,  which  nothing  but  intellectual 
pursuits  can  communicate." 

From  this  branch  of  his  theme,  the  orator  returned  to  his  Alma  Mater,  and  spoke  with 
approbation  of  its  course  of  studies  ;  the  exact  sciences,  and  political  economy  being  sedu- 
lously attended  to,  as  well  as  classical  literature.  Dwelling  for  a  moment  upon  the  value  of 
college  acquisitions  in  after  life,  though  not  called  into  immediate  or  frequent  use  in  the 
every-day  pursuits  of  man,  and  illustrating  his  premises  by  striking  instances  in  point,  he 
proceeded  to  pronounce  a  severe  and  merited  sentence  of  condemnation  upon  that  class  of 
society,  which  explodes  all  kinds  of  knowledge  not  founded  on  personal  experience — who 
believe  that  the  less  one  reads,  the  more  he  thinks  ;  and  that  the  less  he  understands,  the 
better  he  can  act ;  that  education  beyond  the  precincts  of  common  schools  is  aristocratical, 
and  incompatible  with  our  principles  of  equality,  &c.  ;  and  that,  above  all  things,  the  true 
statesman  ought  to  be  like  the  genuine  empiric,  and  rely  exclusively  upon  his  own  experi- 
ence and  observation  for  his  chart  and  compass.  Our  readers  will  probably  read  this  with 
amazement ;  not  dreaming  that  we  have  any  in  the  land  who  entertain  such  views.  But 
they  are  mistaken.  More  than  once  have  we  heard  these  doctrines  advanced  in  our  legisla- 
tive halls,  when  attempts  were  making  to  endow  a  college  or  an  academy,  and  generally 
such  arguments  were  successful.  For  the  honour  of  our  country,  however,  as  the  orator 
truly  remarked,  their  numbers  are  diminishing,  and  as  our  country  advances  in  her  career  of 
light,  they  will  be  extinguished  in  the  lustre  of  her  radiated  and  reflected  glory.  The  bene- 
fits of  education  have  been  gradually  rising  in  human  estimation,  from  those  dark  days  when 
kings  could  not  write  their  own  names,  and  when  those  who  could  write  their  names  were 
exempted  from  the  punishment  of  death,  until  the  present  time.  Those  vampires  of  the 
mind,  who  derived  their  aliment  from  human  ignorance,  are  now  viewed  in  their  true  colours ; 
and  as  a  refulgent  light  maintains  the  same  splendour  when  it  illumines  a  wider  space,  so 
does  intellectual  improvement,  the  fountain  of  national  greatness,  enlarge  and  extend  itself 
without  being  displaced  ;  and  contrary  to  the  general  laws  of  nature,  the  wider  it  spreads 
the  stronger  it  grows. 

Tbe  peroration  of  this  admirable  discourse,  of  which  we  are  conscious  we  have  given  but 


APPENDIX. 


513 


a  very  imperfect  outline,  was  appropriate  and  happy ;  and  when  it  is  published,  it  will  be 
found  to  reflect  equal  credit  upon  the  head  and  heart  of  the  distinguished  writer.  It  was 
listened  to  with  unmingled  satisfaction  ;  and  those  who  heard  it  will  hardly  credit  the  assertion, 
that  it  was  commenced  on  Monday,  and  written  during  the  odds  and  ends  of  time  at  the  Go- 
vernor's disposal,  between  the  forenoon  of  that  day  and  Wednesday.  The  general  subject, 
however,  was  one  upon  which  the  author  delights  to  dwell,  and  every  word  came  warm  from 
the  heart. 


Proceedings  of  the  Alumni  of  Columbia  College  upon  the  death  of  Governor  Clinton. 

The  association  of  the  Alumni  of  Columbia  College,  having  heard  with  deep  sorrow,  of 
the  death  of  their  illustrious  associate  De  Witt  Clinton,  late  Governor  of  the  state,  deem  it 
proper  for  them  to  make  a  public  declaration  of  their  sentiments  and  feelings  on  this  mourn- 
ful event.  Therefore, 

Resolved  unanimously,  at  a  general  meeting  held  at  the  College  Hall  on  Tuesday,  Febru- 
ary 19th,  That  the  Alumni  of  Columbia  College,  while  they  mingle  their  sorrow  with  that 
of  their  fellow-citizens  for  the  loss  of  their  Chief  Magistrate,  whose  elevated  policy  has  emi- 
nently contributed  to  raise  the  glory,  and  promote  the  prosperity  of  the  state,  do  yet  feel 
themselves  especially  called  upon  to  deplore  his  loss,  as  the  enlightened  and  liberal  patron  of 
education  and  science;  as  the  zealous  and  steady  friend  of  the  college,  and  its  earliest 
alumnus  after  the  termination  of  the  war  of  independence. 

Resolved,  That  in  testimony  of  Mr.  Clinton's  eminent  talents  and  virtues,  and  of  their 
sincere  sorrow  for  his  death,  the  alumni  will  wear  crape  on  the  left  arm  for  thirty  days. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  Mr.  Clinton's  last  year's  address  to  the  alumni  be  procured  for 
publication,  and  that  the  same  be  forthwith  put  to  press. 

Resolved,  That  the  standing  committee  be  empowered  to  carry  the  above  resolution  into 
effect,  and  also  to  adopt  such  further  measures  as  may  best  express  the  sentiments  of  re- 
spect entertained  by  the  alumni  for  the  memory  of  their  highly  distinguished  associate. 

Resolved,  That  the  chairman  transmit  to  the  family  of  Mr.  Clinton  a  copy  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  this  meeting,  together  with  the  expression  of  the  sincere  condolence  of  the 
alumni,  for  the  severe  bereavement  which  the  family  have  suffered.  By  order  of  the  meeting, 

ROBERT  TROUP,  Chairman. 

JAMES  T.  WATSON,  Secretary* 


514 


APPENDIX. 


Note  LL.— p.  131. 

Believing  that  the  reader  will  feel  an  interest  in  knowing  all  the  circum- 
stances attending  the  last  moments  of  Governor  Clinton,  the  author  is  induced 
to  give  a  place  to  the  following  communications,  which  were  addressed  to 
him  immediately  after  the  decease  of  his  friend.  While  those  letters  convey 
many  particulars  connected  with  his  death,  they  serve  to  show  the  deep  and 
acute  feeling  which  pervaded  every  member  of  the  community,  and  that  all 
political  differences  were  merged  in  the  great  respect,  universally  entertained, 
for  the  value  of  the  life  and  services  of  the  deceased. 

Letter  from  John  James,  M.  D.  the  family  physician  of  Governor  Clinton. 

Albany,  Feb.  11,  1828.— Monday  Evening,  12  o'clock. 

Dear  Sir, 

Your  apprehensions  have  been  too  soon  realized.  The  Governor  expired  at  half  past 
six  o'clock  this  evening.  During  the  morning  he  rode  several  miles  in  a  carriage,  and  had 
been  apparently  as  well  as  usual  until  a  few  moments  before  he  expired.  While  the  Go- 
vernor was  engaged  in  his  study,  Mr.  Charles  Clinton  observed  him  to  lean  backward  in 
his  chair,  as  if  distressed  for  breath,  and  before  he  could  cross  the  room  to  his  assistance,  he 
expired  without  a  struggle. 

Very  respectfully  yours,  &c. 

JOHN  JAMES. 

Dr.  David  Hosack. 


Letter  from  Rensselaer  Gansevoort,  M.  D. 

Albany,  Feb.  11, 1828.— Monday  Evening,  8  o'clock. 

Dear  Sir, 

The  pride  and  ornament  of  our  country  is  no  more  !  Your  early  friend  and  associate, 
Governor  Clinton,  died  this  evening  about  7  o'clock.  Being  present  a  very  few  minutes 
after  his  dissolution,  I  will  briefly  state  the  facts  that  fell  under  my  own  observation,  and 
such  as  I  have  learned  from  the  family.  At  1 1  o'clock,  he  rode  out  with  Mrs.  Clinton  and 
others  of  the  family;  returned  .at  one,  dined  at  his  usual  hour,  and  retired  to  his  study: 
took  tea  at  a  quarter  past  six,  again  retired  to  his  room,  and,  a  few  minutes  after,  while 
sitting  in  his  chair  and  conversing  with  his  sons,  he  complained  of  an  oppression  about  the 


APPENDIX. 


515 


region  of  the  heart.  A  glass  of  water  was  handed  him,  which  lie  drank.  After  this  five 
minutes  may  have  elapsed,  when  his  son  observed  his  head  gradually  incline  upon  his  chest. 
Independent  of  this,  no  change  of  posture,  or  the  least  alteration  of  feature,  ensued.  Life 
had  deserted  its  citadel !  Upon  the  most  careful  and  repeated  examination,  no  pulse  was 
discovered  at  the  arm,  or  the  least  action  at  the  heart.  The  means  adopted  towards  resus- 
citation proved  abortive. 

That  his  death  was  the  result  of  a  chronic  disease  of  the  heart,  is  evident.  Touching 
the  nature  of  that  disease,  I  am  not  prepared  to  hazard  an  opinion. 

Some  of  the  Governor's  family,  and  a  few  of  his  friends,  express  the  belief  that  he 
evinced  symptoms  of  slight  indisposition  for  a  number  of  days  previous  to  his  death — still 
he  was  daily  engaged  in  his  domestic  and  official  duties. 

In  haste,  I  am,  Sir,  very  respectfully,  yours, 

RENSSELAER  GANSEVOORT. 

David  Hosack,  M.  D. 


Letter  from  the  Honourable  Luther  Bradish,  Member  of  the  Legislature. 

Albany,  Feb.  11,  1828. — Monday  Evening,  half-past  7,  a.  m. 

My  dear  Sir, 

After  the  very  explicit  opinion  you  confidently  expressed  to  me,  while  here,  of  the  situation 
of  Governor  Clinton,  you  will  not  be  surprised  when  I  announce  to  you  his  death,  which 
took  place  about  half  an  hour  since.  He  had  taken  an  unusually  long  ride  in  the  morning:  dined 
with  his  family  and  a  few  friends,  and  when  they  had  withdrawn,  retired  to  his  library, 
where  he  expired,  almost  immediately,  sitting  in  his  chair.  Thus  has  passed  from  among 
us  one,  whom,  when  the  little  short-lived  feelings  and  views  of  party  shall  have  passed 
away,  history  will  record  among  the  great  and  distinguished  of  our  country.  Three  of  the 
faculty  were  called  in  on  the  occasion,  Doctors  Beck,. Bay,  and  James;  one  of  whom  I  un- 
derstand, has  declared  the  immediate  cause  of  his  deatli  to  have  been  the  rupture  of  a  blood 
vessel  about  the  heart.  Recollecting  the  opinion  confidently  expressed  by  you  while  here, 
and  believing  that  opinion  to  be  correct,  I  hope  a  surgical  examination  of  the  body  will  take 
place  ;  should  this  be  the  case,  I  will  communicate  to  you  the  result.  We  regret  exceedingly 
your  absence  at  this  moment. 

I  am,  dear  Sir,  with  great  truth,  yours,  &c. 

LUTHER  BRADISH. 

Dr.  David  Hosack. 


516 


APPENDIX. 


Letter  from  the  Honourable  Francis  Granger,  a  Member  of  the  Legislature. 

Albany,  Feb.  11,  1328.— Monday  Evening,  8  o'clock. 

Dear  Sir, 

The  city  is  in  consternation.  Governor  Clinton  died  this  evening  at  seven  o'clock,  while 
in  his  chair,  in  his  study.    How  soon  your  fearful  forebodings  have  been  realized  ! 

Your  friend, 

FRANCIS  GRANGER. 

David  Hosack.M.  D. 


Letter  from  the  Honourable  Robert  Bogardus,  a  Member  of  the  Legislature. 

Albany,  Feb.  13,  1828.    Wednesday  Evening,  S  o'clock. 

My  Dear  Friend, 

I  send  you  the  arrangement  of  the  funeral  of  our  late  great  friend,  for  whose  death  you 
prepared  me. 

Your  last  words,  "  that  you  never  should  see  him  again,  and  that  his  death  would  be  in- 
stantaneous, and  sooner  than  I  appeared  to  expect,"  had  not  lost  their  impression,  before  a 
hasty  messenger  came  to  me,  exclaiming — Clinton  is  dead ! 

Many  may  regret  they  were  not,  but  who  can  regret  they  were,  his  friends  ? 

Yours, 

ROBERT  BOGARDUS. 

David  Hosack,  M.  D. 


Note  MM.— p.  132. 

The  numerous  public  testimonials  of  respect  paid  to  the  memory  of  Gover- 
nor Clinton,  throughout  the  state  and  nation,  would  of  themselves  compose  a 
volume  of  inordinate  size.  The  author,  therefore,  from  a  regard  to  the  limits 
which  are  usually  prescribed  to  works  of  this  nature,  and  indeed  which  he 
fears  he  has  already  exceeded,  is  compelled  to  omit  many  of  those  details 
which  relate  to  the  decease,. the  funeral  obsequies,  and  the  expressions  of 


APPENDIX. 


:>17 


respect,  for  the  memory  of  Mr.  Clinton,  and  to  confine  himself  to  a  brief  sketch 
of  the  proceedings  of  the  legislature,  those  of  the  common  council  of  the 
cities  of  Albany  and  New-York,  a  reference  to  the  tributes  of  regard,  not 
heretofore  noticed  in  this  work,  which  have  been  presented  by  some  of  the 
public  institutions  with  which  Governor  Clinton  had  been  connected. 

Proceedings  of  tfie  Legislature  of  New-  York. 

On  the  morning  of  the  12th  February,  agreeably  to  the  adjournment  of  the  preceding 
day,  the  senate  and  assembly  were  convened  in  their  respective  chambers,  and  the  session 
opened  with  an  appropriate  prayer  by  the  chaplain,  referring  to  the  dispensation  of  divine 
providence  in  the  removal  of  the  governor  of  the  state. 

IN  ASSEMBLY. 

After  prayer  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Young,  Mr.  Butler*  rose,  and  thus  addressed  the  speaker 
of  the  house. 

Mr.  Speaker: — It  seems  to  devolve  upon  me,  as  the  representative  of  this  city,  to  call 
the  attention  of  the  house  to  that  awful  event,  which,  since  our  last  sitting,  has  shrouded 
this  metropolis  in  mourning.  Death  has  been  among  us  !  and  he  has  aimed  at  no  common 
mark.  By  one  of  those  signal  displays  of  his  power  which  illustrate  the  supremacy  of  the 
Almighty,  and  the  nothingness  of  man,  he  has  cut  down  one  not  only  pre-eminent  in  station, 
but  most  conspicuous  for  talents  and  public  services.  How  inscrutable  are  the  ways  of  Pro- 
vidence !  It  seems  but  as  yesterday,  since  we  were  called  to  lament  the  death  of  an  adopted 
son,  whose  eloquence  created  an  era  in  our  history,  and  whose  virtues  and  talents  rendered 
him  an  ornament  alike  to  the  old  world  and  the  new;  and  now,  when  the  tears  shed  for 
Emmet  are  scarcely  dried,  another — his  appointed  eulogist — has  like  him  been  stricken 
down,  in  the  fulness  of  his  fame  and  on  the  very  field  of  his  renown— and  that,  too,  ere  he 
had  performed  the  sad  but  honourable  duty  to  which  he  had  been  called. 

In  the  resolutions  which  I  shall  have  the  honour  to  submit,  I  have  endeavoured  to  ex- 
press the  common  feelings  of  this  house  and  of  the  community.  Before  they  are  read,  I  shall 
attempt  the  further  duty  of  saying  something  of  the  character  and  services  of  the  illustrious 
dead.    I  do  not  intend  to  speak  his  eulogy — for  I  have  neither  sufficient  control  over  my 


*  The  magnanimous  conduct  of  Mr.  Butler,  who,  during  the  life  of  Mr.  Clinton  had  ever  been  among 
the  opponents  of  his  politics  and  administration,  reflects  upon  this  gentleman  the  highest  honour,  and 
has  received  the  universal  approbation  of  the  community. 

63 


518 


APPENDIX. 


feelings  to  perform  the  task,  nor  would  the  suddenness  of  the  occasion  permit  me  to  do  jus- 
tice to  the  subject.  Other  reasons  would  also  restrain  me — overwhelmed  with  that  deep 
sense  of  the  vanity  of  human  greatness,  which  this  event  is  so  well  calculated  to  inspire,  I 
dare  not  flatter  him. 

But  I  may  say  without  offence,  and  in  the  spirit  of  history,  that  this  state,  since  the  forma- 
tion of  its  government,  nay  more,  since  the  settlement  of  the  country,  has  never  produced  an 
individual,  who  has  exerted  so  great  an  influence  upon  the  interests  of  the  state,  or  whose 
name  is  more  likely  to  be  perpetuated  in  its  history. 

It  was  the  fortune  of  De  Witt  Clinton,  for  nearly  thirty  years,  to  be  the  head  of  a  great 
party  :  and  the  mark  at  which  were  hurled  the  shafts  of  a  powerful  opposition.  Of  those 
who  supported  or  those  who  opposed  him,  this  is  not  the  occasion  to  speak.  It  is  known  to 
every  member  of  this  house,  that  ever  since  my  acquaintance  with  political  affairs,  I  have 
acted  with  the  latter ;  but  it  affords  me  at  this  moment  unspeakable  delight  to  reflect,  that 
for  many  years  there  has  been  mingled  with  that  opposition  nothing  personal ;  save  respect  for 
his  character  and  admiration  of  his  talents.  That  respect  and  admiration  were  justly  due  him ; 
for  to  his  honour  be  it  said,  that  while  he  pursued  with  avidity  political  distinction,  he  had  the 
wisdom  to  seek  for  enduring  fame,  not  from  the  possession  of  power,  or  the  triumphs  of  the 
day,  but  by  identifying  himself  with  the  great  interests  of  the  community.  It  was  his  ambition 
to  be  distinguished  as  the  friend  of  learning  and  of  morals,  and  as  the  advocate  and  patron  of 
every  measure,  calculated  to  promote  the  welfare,  or  increase  the  glory  of  the  state. 

Let  the  statesmen  of  the  present  day,  those  who  are  now  engaged  in  the  career  of  ambition, 
learn  wisdom  from  his  example.  The  grave  of  Clinton  will  soon  cover  the  recollections  of 
his  political  honours,  and  in  it  will  be  buried  the  triumphs  and  reverses  of  the  hour.  But  his 
fame  as  the  patron  of  schools  and  seminaries  of  learning,  as  the  friend  of  morals  and  benevo- 
lence, and  as  the  ardent  champion  of  every  great  public  improvement,  will  flourish  while  time 
shall  last.  Need  I  remind  you  of  his  efforts  to  call  out  and  to  foster  the  latent  genius  of  our 
people  ?  Need  I  speak  of  his  labours  in  aid  of  that  great  work  which  has  conferred  so  much 
glory  on  his  native  state,  and  so  largely  contributed  to  the  happiness  of  its  inhabitants  ?  By  con- 
necting his  fortunes  with  the  success  of  that  stupendous  project,  and  by  devoting  to  it  the  best 
energies  of  his  mind,  what  an  unfading  wreath  did  he  secure  !  So  long  as  the  waters  of  the 
great  lakes  shall  flow  through  this  new  channel  to  the  Atlantic,  so  long  shall  history  record 
his  name. 

I  rejoice,  sir,  that  he  was  not  taken  from  us  until  he  had  witnessed  the  triumphant  con- 
summation of  that  great  work.  I  rejoice,  still  more,  that  he  was  permitted  to  outlive,  to  a 
great  degree,  the  collisions,  the  prejudices,  and  the  asperities  of  party  ;  and  that  there  is  now 
nothing  to  prevent  the  representatives  of  the  people,  from  awarding  to  his  memory  the 
honours  he  deserves.  I  feel,  therefore,  that  I  may  safely  call  on  the  members  of  this  house 
— on  the  votaries  of  science — the  friends  of  humanity  and  morals — the  philanthropist  and 
the  patriot — to  unite  with  me  in  strewing  flowers  on  his  bier  ;  and  in  compliance  with  usages 


APPENDIX. 


rendered  holy  by  the  best  feelings  of  our  nature,  to  join  in  a  solemn  expression  of  respect 
for  his  memory  and  sorrow  for  his  loss. 

The  following  are  the  resolutions  offered  by  Mr.  Butler. 

It  having  pleased  the  Almighty,  suddenly  to  remove  by  death  the  chief  magistrate  of  this 
state,  and  the  legislature  being  desirous  to  manifest  its  deep  sense  of  the  great  public  loss 
sustained  by  the  state  and  the  American  nation,  it  is  therefore 

Resolved,  unanimously,  by  the  senate  and  assembly  of  the  state  of  New-York,  that  in  tes- 
timony of  the  profound  grief  felt  by  this  legislature  on  the  sudden  death  of  De  Witt  Clin- 
ton, Governor  of  this  state,  the  members  of  the  senate  and  assembly  will  wear  the  usual 
badges  of  mourning  during  the  present  session. 

Resolved,  unanimously,  that  the  funeral  obsequies  of  the  late  governor  be  conducted  un- 
der the  direction  of  a  joint  committee  of  the  two  houses,  to  consist  of  four  members  of  the 
senate,  and  four  members  of  the  assembly. 

Resolved,  unanimously,  that  the  members  of  the  two  houses  of  the  legislature  will,  in  their 
public  character,  attend  the  funeral  solemnities  of  the  late  governor. 

Resolved,  unanimously,  that  these  resolutions  be  transmitted  to  the  family  of  the  deceased 
Governor  Clinton,  as  an  evidence  of  the  high  estimation  entertained  by  this  legislature  of 
his  great  talents  and  eminent  public  services ;  of  the  deep  regret  caused  by  his  sudden  and 
awful  removal  from  the  scene  of  his  fame  and  of  his  usefulness;  and  of  its  sincere  condolence 
with  those  who  have  been  so  deeply  afflicted  by  this  dispensation  of  Providence. 

The  above  resolutions  were  adopted,  and  Messrs.  Butler  of  Albany,  Porter  of  Erie, 
Granger  of  Ontario,  and  Brasher  of  New-York,  were  appointed  the  committee  on  the  part 
of  the  house.    The  house  adjourned  till  the  10th,  to  receive  the  report  of  the  committee. 
IN  SENATE. 

The  resolutions  of  the  assembly  relative  to  the  death  of  Governor  Clinton  and  his  funeral 
obsequies  being  announced  to  the  senate, 

Mr.  Spencer  (evidently  much  affected,)  said  he  rose  to  move  a  concurrence  in  the  resolu- 
tions. He  felt  wholly  unable  to  express  the  emotions  which  he  presumed  were  experienced 
by  every  member  of  that  body.  The  bereavement  was  so  sudden,  so  unexpected,  that  he 
could  scarcely  realise  the  fact  that  he  who  yesterday  stood  before  them  in  the  freshness  of 
life  and  the  fullness  of  his  fame,  had  been  summoned  to  appear  in  the  presence  of  his  Maker. 
He  felt  oppressed  by  the  magnitude  of  the  event.  Of  the  character  of  the  deceased,  it  was 
needless  here  to  speak.  It  would  evince  an  ignorance  of  the  history  of  the  state  and  of  the 
country,  not  to  know  how  largely  it  was  identified  with  it.  With  the  literature,  the  science, 
and  the  improvement  of  the  age,  his  name  would  go  down  to  posterity  full  of  honour.  He 
could  only  add,  that  the  resolutions  were  such  as  were  due  to  the  occasion,  and  he  hoped 
they  would  be  adopted.  These  resolutions  were  seconded  by  Mr.  Crary,  who  also,  with 
much  feeling,  pronounced  a  panegyric  upon  the  late  Governor,  and  were  unanimously  con- 


520 


APPENDIX. 


curred  in  by  the  senate;  whereupon  the  following  committee  was  appointed,  viz. — Messrs. 
Spencer,  of  Ontario;  Carroll,  of  Livingston ;  Allen,  of  Genesee;  and  McCarty,  of  Albany. 

Further  Proceedings  of  the  two  Branches  of  the  Legislature. 

The  two  branches  of  the  legislature  met  yesterday,  at  ten  o'clock,  and  after  adopting  the 
following  report,  adjourned  till  one  o'clock  this  afternoon,  when  they  will  assemble  at  their 
chambers,  and  thence  proceed  to  the  late  dwelling  of  Governor  Clinton. 

The  joint  committee  of  the  senate  and  assembly,  appointed  to  conduct  the  funeral  obse- 
quies of  the  late  Governor  Clinton,  reported ; 

That  they  have  made  the  arrangements  which  appeared  necessary  to  conduct  the  funeral 
of  Governor  Clinton,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  carry  into  effect  the  intentions  of  the  legisla- 
ture. It  is  believed  they  are  such  as  will  evince  the  sentiments  of  grief  expressed  by  the 
two  houses  in  their  resolutions,  and  comport  with  the  character  of  the  state.  The  details 
of  their  arrangements,  so  far  as  they  are  necessary  to  be  reported,  will  appear  by  the  order 
adopted  by  the  committee,  a  copy  of  which  is  annexed. 

In  cases  somewhat  similar,  it  has  been  the  practice  to  direct  the  chairs  of  the  president 
of  the  senate,  and  of  the  speaker  of  the  assembly,  to  be  shrouded  with  black.  Unwilling 
to  omit  the  least  mark  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  the  illustrious  dead,  the  committee  have 
followed  these  precedents.  They  respectfully  recommend  that  the  two  houses  meet  in  their 
respective  chambers,  to-morrow,  at  one  o'clock  p.  m.  in  order  to  make  the  necessary  prepa- 
rations to  unite  in  the  funeral  solemnities. 

Order  of  Arrangements  for  the  Funeral  of  De  Witt  Clinton,  late  Governor  of  the  state 
of  New- York,  on  Thursday,  the  14th  day  of  February,  1828. 

The  senate  and  assembly  will  meet  in  their  respective  chambers,  at  half-past  one  p.  k.  and 
will  proceed  to  the  house  of  the  deceased,  escorted  by  the  military  who  may  be  assembled 
for  that  purpose. 

The  reverend  clergy  of  the  city  of  Albany,  are  requested  to  join  in  the  funeral  solemni- 
ties, and  for  that  purpose  to  attend  at  the  same  time,  at  the  house  of  the  deceased. 

The  chancellor,  justices  of  the  supreme  court,  circuit  judges  who  may  be  in  the  city,  and 
the  state  officers,  are  also  requested  to  attend  at  the  house  of  the  deceased,  at  the  same  time, 
for  the  same  purpose. 

The  mayor  and  common  council  of  the  city  of  Albany  are  invited  to  attend,  and  to  assem- 
ble previous  to  two  o'clock  p.  m.  at  some  house  in  the  vicinity. 


APPENDIX. 


521 


The  citizens  of  the  state  of  New- York,  who  may  be  desirous  to  pay  the  last  tribute  of 
respect  to  the  memory  of  Governor  Clinton,  are  invited  to  attend,  and  assemble  at  such  of 
the  houses  in  the  vicinity  as  will  be  open  for  their  reception. 

Places  will  be  assigned  to  any  benevolent,  religious,  literary  or  other  society,  and  to  the 
members  of  any  particular  profession,  who  may  wish  to  appear  as  a  body  in  the  procession, 
if  notice  of  their  intention  be  given  to  the  chairman  of  the  committee  on  the  part  of  the 
senate,  or  to  the  chairman  of  the  committee  of  the  assembly.  They  will  respectively  as- 
semble at  such  place  in  the  vicinity  as  they  may  think  proper,  and  will  give  notice  of  the 
place  of  their  meeting  to  the  committee. 

In  order  to  avoid  an  undue  collection  of  citizens  at  the  house  of  the  deceased,  it  is  earnestly 
desired  that  those  who  are  not  specially  invited  to  assemble  there,  would  meet  at  some  of 
the  adjacent  houses. 

The  procession  will  begin  to  move  as  soon  after  two  o'clock,  p.  m.  as  circumstances  will 
permit.  The  signal  of  its  moving  shall  be,  the  firing  of  minute  guns.  The  bells  of  the 
city  will  then  commence  tolling,  and  will  continue  so  long  as  the  minute  guns  are  fired. 

The  following  will  be  the  order  of  the  procession : 

The  Military  Escort. 

The  Clergy  of  the  city,  and  the  attending  Physicians  of  the  deceased. 

The  hearse  and  pall  bearers. 

The  relatives  of  the  deceased  in  carriages. 

The  military  family  of  the  late  Commander-in-Chief. 

The  Joint  Committee  of  Arrangements. 

The  Lieutenant-Governor  of  the  state. 

The  Senate,  preceded  by  its  officers. 

The  Assembly,  preceded  by  its  officers. 

The  Chancellor,  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  Circuit  Judges. 
The  State  Officers. 

The  Common  Council  of  the  city  of  Albany,  with  their  officers. 
Judicial  and  Executive  Officers  of  the  County  of  Albany. 
The  Members  of  the  Bar. 

Citizens,  either  in  societies,  or  otherwise,  as  they  may  choose  to  appear. 

The  procession  will  be  formed  of  six  persons  abreast,  and  will  move  through  North  Pearl, 
to  Columbia,  North  Market,  State  and  Washington  streets,  to  the  place  of  sepulture.  On 
arriving  there,  military  honours  will  be  paid  to  the  deceased,  and  the  procession  will  be 
dismissed. 


522 


APPENDIX. 


JOINT  COMMITTEE  OF  ARRANGEMENTS. 


Of  the  Senate. 


J.  C.  Spencer, 
E.  B.  Allen, 


C. H.  Carroll. 
J.  McCarty. 


Of  the  Assembly. 


B.  F.  Butler, 
F.  Granger, 


P.  B.  Porter, 
P.  Brasher. 


The  report  was  accepted,  and  the  senate  then  adjourned  until  one  o'clock  to-morrow 
afternoon. 

The  house  met  at  10  o'clock  pursuant  to  adjournment.  After  prayer  by  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Young,  Mr.  Butler,  from  the  joint  committee  of  the  senate  and  assembly,  reported  the  order 
of  arrangements  for  the  funeral  of  the  late  governor,  (as  above)  which  was  read,  approved 
and  adopted,  when  on  motion  of  Mr.  Granger,  the  house  adjourned  until  one  o'clock  p.  m. 
to-morrow. 


A  special  meeting  of  the  board  was  held  yesterday  afternoon  at  5  o'clock.  The  mayor 
addressed  the  meeting  as  follows : 

Gentlemen — The  melancholy  event  that  has  induced  me  to  call  this  special  meeting,  is 
already  known  to  you  all.  The  death  of  Governor  Clinton,  which  occurred  last  evening,  is 
a  public  calamity. 

I  presume  I  have  merely  anticipated  your  wishes  in  affording  an  opportunity  publicly  to 
express  our  grief  on  this  solemn  occasion,  and  to  sympathize  with  his  family,  his  friends,  and 
our  fellow-citizens  in  their  great  affliction. 

The  recorder  then  offered  the  following  resolutions,  which  weTe  unanimously  adopted  : 

The  death  of  Governor  Clinton  having  deprived  the  nation  of  one  of  its  most  eminent 
citizens,  our  state  of  a  public  benefactor,  and  this  city  of  a  benevolent  inhabitant,  who  was 
endeared  to  U9  as  well  by  a  sense  of  his  public  usefulness,  as  by  the  knowledge  of  his  pri- 
vate virtues,  and  the  ties  of  social  intercourse — 

The  Common  Council  of  the  city  of  Albany,  under  the  dispensation  of  Providence,  deeply 
deploring  the  death  of  Governor  Clinton  as  a  public  calamity,  and  sympathizing  with  the 
afflicted  family  and  relations  of  the  deceased, 


Proceedings  of  the  Corporation  of  the  City  of  Albany. 


APPENDIX. 


523 


Resolve — 

That  this  board  will  conform  to  such  arrangements  as  may  be  made  by  the  committees 
of  tlie  two  branches  of  the  legislature,  and  will  attend  the  funeral  on  Thursday  next,  at  two 
o'clock  p.  m.  with  its  officers,  wearing  the  usual  badge  of  mourning,  and  continue  to  wear 
the  same  for  thirty  days. 

That  the  several  religious,  literary  and  charitable  societies  in  the  city,  be  requested  to 
unite  with  the  municipal  and  state  authorities,  in  paying  the  last  tribute  of  respect  to  the 
deceased. 

That  the  bells  of  the  churches  in  the  city  be  tolled  during  the  moving  of  the  procession. 
That  it  be  recommended  to  the  citizens  generally  to  close  their  usual  places  of  business 
during  the  time  of  the  funeral  solemnities. 

Meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Albany. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Albany,  at  the  Capitol,  on  the  evening  of  the  12th  of  Feb. 
1828.  Isaiah  Townsend,  Esq.  was  called  to  the  chair,  and  Thomas  W.  Olcott,  Esq.  was 
chosen  secretary. 

The  following  preamble  and  resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted  : 

The  citizens  of  Albany,  having  learned  with  unfeigned  sorrow,  the  sudden  and  lamented 
death  of  his  excellency  De  Witt  Clinton,  and  assembling  together  to  testify  the  respect  they 
owe  to  the  memory  of  his  exalted  talents  and  eminent  services,  do  resolve  as  follows: 

That  they  sincerely  deplore  the  severe  and  afflictive  loss,  sustained  not  only  by  the  state, 
but  the  nation.  This  distinguished  statesman  and  accomplished  scholar,  after  devoting 
more  than  thirty  years  to  the  public  good,  as  the  firm  and  decided  patron  of  the  arts,  the 
warm  and  zealous  friend  of  science,  and  the  powerful  advocate  and  supporter  of  internal  im- 
provements, of  education,  and  of  virtue,  is  now  no  more.  His  public  and  private  worth  are 
identified  with  the  history  of  his  country,  and  will  endure,  as  long  as  patriotism  and  freedom 
preserve  their  influence  over  this  happy  land. 

That  they  condole  with  bis  family,  relatives,  and  connexions,  in  this  painful  and  myste- 
rious dispensation  of  Divine  Providence,  by  which  they  have  lost  an  affectionate  relative, 
and  an  illustrious  benefactor. 

That  they  will  abstain  from  their  usual  avocations  during  the  day  on  which  his  funeral 
obsequies  shall  be  solemnized,  and  that  they  will  close  their  stores  and  shops. 

That  they  will  wear  the  usual  badge  of  mourning  on  the  left  arm,  on  that  day. 

That  a  committee,  consisting  of  three  persons  from  each  ward,  be  appointed  to  confer  with 
such  other  committees,  as  arc,  or  shall  be  appointed  by  the  legislature,  the  corporation,  the 
bar,  the  military,  or  other  public  bodies,  to  make  arrangements  for  attending  the  funeral  of 
the  deceased,  and  to  adopt  such  other  measures  as  shall  be  suitable  to  the  occasion. 


524 


APPENDIX. 


Funeral  of  Governor  Clinton. 

Pursuant  to  the  arrangements  previously  made  under  the  direction  of  the  legislature,  the 
funeral  of  the  late  Governor  Clinton  took  place  on  Thursday,  the  14th  February. 

The  day  was  ushered  in  at  sunrise  by  the  discharge  of  cannon,  which  was  repeated  every 
half  hour  until  sunset. 

The  two  houses  of  the  legislature,  convened  at  1  o'clock,  p.  m.  and  after  a  short  sitting, 
proceeded  in  a  body  to  the  mansion  of  the  deceased.  The  state  officers,  the  clergy  of  the 
city,  the  pall  bearers,  the  relatives  of  the  deceased, "his  present  and  late  military  family,  and 
several  other  gentlemen  were  also  assembled  at  the  same  place.  The  dwellings  of  Mrs. 
Van  Schaick,  Messrs.  Brown,  Dudley,  Wheaton,  Davis,  Elmendorf,  James,  and  Westerlo, 
were  also  most  obligingly  opened,  for  the  accommodation  of  the  corporation  of  the  city,  the 
members  of  the  bar,  and  other  societies. 

The  citizens  of  Albany  were  assembled  in  great  numbers  at  the  consistory  room  of  the 
North  Dutch  Church,  whilst  the  side-walks  and  street,  from  the  residence  of  Governor 
Clinton  to  State-street,  were  filled  by  the  inhabitants  of  this  county  and  the  adjoining 
counties. 

Immediately  after  2  o'clock,  a  solemn  and  most  appropriate  address  to  the  throne  of  grace, 
was  made  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ludlow,  who  was  invited,  in  the  absence,  from  ill  health,  of  Dr. 
Chester,  to  whose  congregation  the  Governor  was  attached,  to  perform  that  duty.  The 
coffin  was  then  placed  in  the  hearse,  and  the  solemn  knell  which  announced  the  forming  of 
the  procession,  resounded  from  all  quarters  of  the  city. 

The  procession  moved  in  the  following  order  under  the  firing  of  minute  guns,  which  con- 
tinued until  the  close  of  the  solemnities. 

The  military  escort,  consisting  of — 

The  ninth  regiment  of  riflemen,  under  Colonel  Taylor. 

A  battalion  of  light  infantry,  under  Lieut.  Col.  Shankland.  Commandants  of  companies, 
Captains  Fry  and  Groesbeeck.  To  this  battalion  were  attached  three  companies  of  light 
infantry  from  Gibbonsville  and  Troy. 

A  battalion  of  artillery,  under  command  of  Major  Gibbons.  Commandants  of  companies, 
Captains  Thomas  and  Preston. 

A  squadron  of  horse  artillery,  under  Lieut.  Col.  Van  Schaick.  Commandants  of  compa- 
nies, Captains  Green  and  Fuller. 

A  squadron  of  the  third  brigade  of  horse  artillery,  under  the  command  of  Col.  Consaul. 
Commandants  of  companies,  Major  Winne  and  Captain  Brandon. 

The  whole  under  the  command  of  Brigadier-general  Cooper,  accompanied  by  his  staff. 

The  Clergy  of  the  city,  and  the  attending  Physicians,  with  scarfs. 


p 

APPENDIX.  525 

The  hearse,  covered  by  a  superb  canopy,  surmounted  with  black  plumes,  drawn  by  four 
white  horses ;  their  heads  also  decorated  with  black  plumes,  and  their  harness  trimmed  with 
crape.    The  horses  were  led  by  grooms  properly  habited. 

The  following  gentlemen,  with  scarfs,  as  pall  bearers : 

General Bogardus,  Mr.  Crary,Mr.  Ellsworth,  and  Mr.  Wilkeson,ofthe  Senate. — Mr.  Buck- 
lin,  Mr.  Scudder,  General  Montross,  Mr.  Williams,  Mr.  Breese,  and  General  BrinckerhorT, 
of  the  Assembly. — Chief  Justice  Savage,  Judge  Sutherland,  the  Secretary  of  State  Mr. 
Flagg,  the  Comptroller  Mr.  Marcy,  and  Messrs.  J.  D.  P.  Douw,  and  Mr.  William  James. 

The  Military  Association,  as  an  escort  to  the  pall  bearers. 

The  relatives  of  the  deceased  and  of  his  family,  in  carriages.  Among  them  were  the 
venerable  John  Tayler,  late  Lieutenant-governor,  Chief  Justice  Spencer,  Chancellor  Jones, 
Judge  Woodworth,  Judge  Duer,  and  other  gentlemen  of  distinction. 

The  present  and  late  military  family  of  the  Commander-in-Chief,  also  as  mourners. 

The  joint  committee  of  arrangements,  in  scarfs. 

The  Senate,  preceded  by  its  officers,  the  president  with  a  scarf. 

The  Assembly,  preceded  by  its  officers,  the  speaker  with  a  scarf. 

The  Attorney  General  and  Treasurer  of  the  State,  the  Canal  Commissioners,  and  other 
state  officers. 

Governor  Van  Ness,  of  Vermont,  and  other  strangers  specially  invited. 
The  Common  Council  of  the  city  of  Albany,  and  their  officers. 
The  Judicial  and  Executive  officers  of  the  county  of  Albany. 

The  members  of  the  bar,  with  their  distinguished  senior,  Abraham  Van  Vechten  at  their 
head. 

Knights  Templars,  with  their  banner. 
Master  Masons. 

Royal  Arch  Masons,  with  their  officers  in  full  dress. 

Present  and  past  grand  officers  of  the  Grand  Chapter  of  the  state  of  New-York,  in  full 
dress. 

Members  of  the  fraternity,  to  the  number  of  five  hundred,  with  the  insignia  of  the  order. 
The  faculty  of  Union  College,  preceded  by  their  president,  Dr.  Nott,  robed  in  a  scarf,  and 
the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society  of  that  College. 
The  St.  Andrew's  Society,  with  their  badges. 

The  officers  and  members  of  the  Albany  County  Sunday  School  Union  Society. 
The  Fire  Departments,  consisting  of  several  companies,  with  their  banners ;  the  whole 
under  the  direction  of  Allen  Brown,  as  marshal. 
The  masters  of  vessels  and  steam-boats. 
The  students  at  law. 

The  citizens  of  Albany,  preceded  by  the  several  ward  committees. 

64 


526 


APPENDIX. 


Citizens  of  the  adjoining  counties. 

The  procession  moved  through  North  Pearl,  Columbia,  North  Market,  State,  and  Wash- 
ington streets,  to  the  place  of  sepulture,  the  family  vault  of  the  late  Dr.  Stringer,  in  Sand- 
street  ;  where  the  military  escort  opened  to  the  right  and  left,  through  which  the  hearse,  fol- 
lowed by  the  relatives  and  other  mourners,  and  by  such  of  the  procession  as  circumstances 
would  permit,  proceeded  to  the  vault.  The  mortal  remains  of  De  Witt  Clinton  were  then 
deposited  in  the  "  narrow  house."  Military  honours  were  paid  to  them,  and  the  procession 
dismissed  at  half  past  four. 

Thus  terminated  the  funeral  honours  decreed  by  the  representatives  of  the  people  of  New- 
York  to  her  distinguished  son. 

It  was  alike  honourable  to  our  citizens,  and  indicative  of  the  great  interest  felt  on  the 
occasion,  to  observe  the  entire  suspension  of  business,  and  the  stillness  and  solemnity  which 
every  where  prevailed. 

Many  interesting  circumstances  could  be  mentioned  to  illustrate  the  general  feeling,  were 
it  not  feared  that  this  account  was  already  sufficiently  extended.  A  few  particulars  only 
will  be  adverted  to. 

Great  interest  was  manifested  by  the  public  to  see  the  body,  ere  it  was  for  ever  with- 
drawn from  human  observation.  From  an  early  hour  in  the  morning  until  one  o'clock,  the 
room  in  which  the  coffin  was  deposited,  was  thronged  by  respectable  visitants  who  attended 
for  that  purpose,  and  many  of  whom  had  come  from  a  considerable  distance. 

The  side-walks  of  every  street  through  which  the  procession  moved,  and  the  windows  of 
houses,  and  the  roofs  of  several  of  them,  were  thronged  by  spectators  of  both  sexes,  and 
of  every  age.  Many  of  them  wore  badges,  bearing  a  miniature  likeness  of  Clinton.  More 
than  one  of  the  groups  thus  decorated,  were  composed  of  children,  whose  parents  had  adopted 
this  mode  of  manifesting  their  own  sympathy  with  the  general  feeling. 

The  colours  of  the  several  vessels  at  the  wharves  of  the  city,  were  displayed  at  half  mast. 

Upon  the  whole,  every  thing  was  done  that  duty  or  sympathy  required ;  and  so  done,  as 
to  confer  honour  upon  the  legislature  and  the  state.  The  solemnities,  without  being  osten- 
tatious, were  appropriate  and  imposing ;  they  were  calculated  to  call  out  the  finer  feelings 
of  the  heart ;  to  remind  those  who  witnessed  them,  of  the  solemn  rites  consecrated,  in  ancient 
days,  to  the  memory  of  heroes  and  mighty  men ;  and  to  furnish  at  the  same  time,  a  noble 
incentive  and  a  bright  reward  to  public  virtue. 


APPENDIX. 


527 


Proceedings  of  the  Common  Council  of  the  City  of  New- York. 

Mr.  Seaman  presented  the  following  resolutions,  which  were  unanimously  adopted: 

The  Common  Council  of  the  city  of  New- York  having  been  informed  of  the  death  of  De 
Witt  Clinton,  late  Governor  of  the  state  of  New- York,  and  being  deeply  impressed  with 
this  dispensation  of  Divine  Providence,  and  feeling  in  common  with  their  fellow-citizens,  the 
loss  which  the  state  of  New-York,  and  the  nation  at  large,  have  sustained  in  his  sudden 
removal  from  the  scene  of  his  usefulness,  and  being  desirous  of  rendering  to  his  memory  a 
sincere  and  heartfelt  tribute  of  respect,  Therefore 

Resolved  unanimously,  That  the  president's  chair  be  dressed  in  mourning,  and  that  the 
members  of  the  Common  Council  wear  crape  on  the  left  arm  for  the  space  of  thirty  days. 

Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  the  ship-masters  of  the  several  American  vessels 
now  in  port,  to  hoist  their  colours  half  mast  on  Sunday  next. 

Resolved,  That  the  Reverend  the  clergy  of  the  city  be  respectfully  requested,  in  the  name 
of  the  Common  Council,  to  notice  in  an  appropriate  and  solemn  manner  in  their  respective 
churches,  to-morrow,  the  deep  bereavement  sustained  by  our  common  country  by  the  death 
of  our  chief  magistrate  and  fellow-citizen  De  Witt  Clinton. 

Resolved  unanimously,  That  copies  of  these  resolutions  be  transmitted  by  his  honour  the 
mayor  to  the  family  of  the  late  Governor  Clinton,  with  a  sincere  condolence  of  the  Corpora- 
tion of  the  city  of  New-York,  with  those  who  are  so  deeply  and  more  immediately  afflicted 
by  this  dispensation. 

The  following  was  presented  by  Alderman  Lamb  and  adopted  : 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  be  appointed  with  authority  to  make  arrangements  and  to 
carry  them  into  effect,  for  such  further  demonstrations  of  the  respect  of  this  Common  Coun- 
cil, for  the  memory  of  the  deceased,  and  of  their  high  sense  of  the  eminent  services  he  has 
rendered  the  city  and  state,  as  they  may  judge  proper. 

In  conformity  with  the  resolution  of  the  Common  Council,  requesting  the 
clergy  of  the  city  to  notice  the  deep  bereavement  sustained  by  our  country  in 
the  death  of  Gov.  Clinton,  many  of  the  clergy  of  different  denominations,  as  had 
been  spontaneously  done  at  the  demise  of  General  Washington,  availed  them- 
selves of  this  mournful  occasion  to  hold  up  to  the  community  the  bright  exam- 
ple of  talents,  patriotism,  virtue,  and  religion,  as  displayed  by  Governor  Clin- 
ton ;  and  to  impress  upon  their  several  charges,  the  salutary  lessons  to  which 
such  visitations  of  Providence  naturally  give  rise.  The  Discourses  of  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Milnor,  Dr.  Wainwright,  and  others  of  this  city,  as  well  as  in  different 


528 


APPENDIX. 


parts  of  the  state,  some  of  which  have  been  published,  were  well  calculated 
to  excite  those  to  whom  they  were  addressed,  to  a  noble  emulation  of  the 
bright  example  they  so  successfully  portrayed. 

Proceedings  of  the  New- York  Delegation  at  the  City  of  Washington. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  senators  and  representatives  in  Congress,  from  the  state  of  New- 
York,  held  in  the  Capitol  at  Washington,  February  19th,  1828,  in  consequence  of  the  in- 
formation of  the  death  of  his  excellency  De  Witt  Clinton,  Governor  of  the  state  of  New- 
York.  Gen.  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  of  Albany,  was  called  to  the  chair.  Gulian  C.  Ver- 
plank,  of  the  city  of  New-York,  was  appointed  secretary. 

The  Hon.  Martin  Van  Buren,  of  the  senate,  addressed  the  meeting  nearly  in  the  fol- 
lowing words  : 

Mr.  Chairman — We  have  met  to  pay  a  tribute  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  our  late  Go- 
vernor and  distinguished  fellow-citizen,  De  Witt  Clinton.  Some  of  our  brethren  have  been 
so  kind  as  to  ask  me  to  prepare  a  suitable  expression  of  our  feelings ;  and  I  have,  in  pur- 
suance of  their  wishes,  drawn  up  what  has  occurred  to  me  as  proper  to  be  said  on  the  occa- 
sion. Before  I  submit  it  to  the  consideration  of  the  meeting,  I  beg  to  be  indulged  in  a  few 
brief  remarks.  I  can  say  nothing  of  the  deceased,  that  is  not  familiar  to  you  all.  To  all,  he 
was  personally  known,  and  to  many  of  us,  intimately  and  familiarly,  from  our  earliest  infancy. 
The  high  order  of  his  talents,  the  untiring  zeal  and  great  success  with  which  those  talents 
have  through  a  series  of  years  been  devoted  to  the  prosecution  of  plans  of  great  public  utility, 
are  also  known  to  you  all,  and  by  all,  I  am  satisfied,  duly  appreciated.  The  subject  can 
derive  no  additional  interest  or  importance  from  any  eulogy  of  mine.  All  other  considera- 
tions out  of  view,  the  single  fact  that  the  greatest  public  improvement  of  the  age  in  which 
we  live,  was  commenced  under  the  guidance  of  his  councils,  and  splendidly  accomplished 
under  his  immediate  auspices,  is  of  itself  sufficient  to  fill  the  ambition  of  any  man,  and  to  give 
glory  to  any  name.  But,  as  has  been  justly  said,  his  life,  and  character,  and  conduct,  have 
become  the  property  of  the  historian ;  and  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  history  will  do 
him  justice.  The  triumph  of  his  talents  and  patriotism,  cannot  fail  to  become  monuments  of 
high  and  enduring  fame.  We  cannot,  indeed,  but  remember,  that  in  our  public  career,  col- 
lisions of  opinion  and  action,  at  once  extensive,  earnest,  and  enduring,  have  arisen  between 
the  deceased  and  many  of  us.  For  myself,  sir,  it  gives  me  a  deep-felt,  though  melancholy 
satisfaction,  to  know,  and  more  so,  to  be  conscious,  that  the  deceased  also  felt  and  acknow- 
ledged, that  our  political  differences  have  been  wholly  free  from  that  most  venomous  and  cor- 
roding of  all  poisons,  personal  hatred. 

But  in  other  respects  it  is  now  immaterial  what  was  the  character  of  those  collisions. — 
They  have  been  turned  to  nothing,  and  less  than  nothing,  by  the  event  we  deplore,  and  I 


APPENDIX. 


529 


doubt  not  that  we  will,  with  one  voice  and  one  heart,  yield  to  his  memory  the  well  de- 
served tribute  of  our  respect  for  his  name,  and  our  warmest  gratitude  for  his  great  and  sig- 
nal services.  For  myself,  sir,  so  strong,  so  sincere,  and  so  engrossing  is  that  feeling,  that  I, 
who  whilst  living,  never,  no  never,  envied  him  any  thing,  now  that  he  has  fallen,  am  greatly 
tempted  to  envy  him  his  grave  with  its  honours. 

Of  this,  the  most  afflicting  of  all  bereavements,  that  has  fallen  on  his  wretched  and  des- 
ponding family,  what  shall  I  say  ? — Nothing. — Their  grief  is  too  sacred  for  description  ;  jus- 
tice can  alone  be  done  to  it  by  those  deep  and  silent,  but  agonizing  feelings,  which  on  their 
account  pervade  every  bosom. 

Mr.  Van  Buren  then  submitted  the  following  resolutions  : 

The  delegation  from  the  state  of  New- York,  to  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa- 
tives of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  having  been  informed  of  the  sudden  death  of  De 
Witt  Clinton,  late  governor  of  that  state,  feel  it  due  to  the  occasion,  as  well  as  to  their 
own  feelings,  to  unite  with  the  people  they  represent,  in  expressing  their  deep  and  sincere 
sorrow  for  a  dispensation  of  Providence,  which  has,  in  the  midst  of  active  usefulness,  cut  off 
from  the  service  of  that  state,  whose  proudest  ornament  he  was — a  great  man,  who  has  won, 
and  richly  deserves,  the  reputation  of  a  distinguished  public  benefactor. 

Sensibly  impressed  with  respect  for  the  memory  of  the  illustrious  dead,  they  will  wear  the 
usual  badge  of  mourning  for  thirty  days;  and  they  request  that  a  copy  of  these,  their  pro- 
ceedings, be  communicated  to  the  family  of  the  deceased,  with  an  assurance  of  their  condo- 
lence at  the  greatest  bereavement  that  could  have  befallen  them  on  this  side  of  the  grave. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  De  Graff,  of  Schenectady,  the  above  was  unanimously  adopted,  and 
the  chairman  and  secretary  empowered  to  communicate  them  to  the  widow  and  family  of 
the  deceased. 

The  author  might  now  proceed  to  record  the  various  other  expressions  of 
public  and  private  feeling  to  which  the  lamented  decease  of  Mr.  Clinton  gave 
rise;  for  these  he  refers  the  reader  to  a  small  volume,  entitled  "  Tribute  to  the 
Memory  of  De  Witt  Clinton,"  &c.  in  which  they  are  collected  and  judiciously 
arranged,  by  a  citizen  of  Albany.  Suffice  it  to  remark,  that  most  of  the 
numerous  public  institutions,  literary  and  benevolent,  of  our  city  and  country, 
with  scarcely  an  exception,  gave  a  public  expression  of  their  sorrow  at  the 
death  of  the  late  chief  magistrate  of  our  state.  While,  too,  it  would  have 
afforded  the  author  high  gratification  to  have  introduced  into  these  pages 
many  of  the  testimonials  referred  to,  and  some  of  the  more  splendid  effusions 
contained  in  the  several  eulogies  that  have  been  pronounced  in  various  parts 


530 


APPENDIX. 


of  the  United  States,  he  is  denied  this  melancholy  duty  by  the  very  unex- 
pected length  to  which  this  Appendix  has  already  extended. 

Recurring  to  the  following  warm  tribute  of  affection  and  respect  (not  less 
honourable  to  the  writer  than  to  the  deceased  friend  whose  loss  he  deplores,) 
he  is  compelled  to  deviate  from  his  original  purpose. 

Letter  of  Condolence  from  General  Lafayette  addressed  to  Charles  A.  Clinton,  Esq. 
of  this  City. 

Paris,  March  30,  1828. 

My  dear  Sir, 

Your  particular  and  friendly  .attentions  to  me,  make  you  the  natural  organ 
of  the  melancholy  and  affectionate  feelings,  which  I  wish  to  be  conveyed  to 
the  family  of  your  lamented  father.  I  regret  the  mournful  and  unexpected 
event,  as  an  immense  loss  to  the  public,  and  a  great  personal  cause  of  grief 
to  me.  Bound,  as  I  was,  to  the  memory  of  my  two  beloved  revolutionary 
companions,  your  grandfather  and  granduncle,  I  had  found  a  peculiar  gratifi- 
cation in  the  eminent  talents  and  services  of  their  son  and  nephew,  and  in  his 
kind  and  liberal  correspondence,  until  personal  and  grateful  acquaintance  had 
impressed  me  with  all  the  feelings  of  a  more  intimate  friendship.  I  beg  you 
to  be  to  your  afflicted  family  the  interpreter  of  my  deep  sympathies,  and  to 
believe  me,  for  ever, 

Your  most  sincere  friend, 

LAFAYETTE. 

Col.  Clinton. 

P.  S.  My  son  and  Le  Vasseur  beg  to  be  mournfully  remembered. 


THE  END. 


